3 Things to Do to Enter 2019 as a Better Startup Leader

The start of a new year is an excellent opportunity to bring desired change into your company. With the new year, your people are well rested and full of renewed energy. They might even come back with ideas for improvement as they have had time over the holidays to reflect on their lives, their goals, and their roles within the company.

Conversely, the new year is also a challenging time for leaders. We all know the dreaded feeling of stepping back into the office on January 2nd and seeing the same office, same faces, and the same problems. January is the most popular time for job changes according to a Glassdoor survey. Close to 50 percent of employees report leaving due to boredom or a lack of challenge in their jobs, another 18 percent left because they did not approve of their line manager, and 9 percent left because of negative relationships with their colleagues.

Therefore it is critical to start the year off well by re-energizing people around strategy, hitting reset on negative relationships, and setting goals for yourself as a leader.

#1 Re-energize on Strategy

If your team was anything like mine, you probably ended 2018 in a mad rush of projects desperately looking towards the holidays for a much needed break. Coming back to the office after the new year, the temptation is strong to slip immediately back into old routines centered around dutifully completing projects and tasks. Not only will you run the risk of demotivating your employees, you might also cause your people to lose sight of the big picture and the meaning behind their work.

Therefore, don’t miss the opportunity to get your people motivated and re-energized. Start the year off by re-aligning everyone on strategy. Involve and engage your team by co-creating team goals and accountability structures for the year. Ensure to capture and leverage all those new ideas that your people have reflected upon over their break.

As a result, you will have a more effective and autonomous team eager to go at the start of the year. Autonomy and empowerment requires your people to know what the short term and long term goals are, so that they can make balanced decisions and self-pilot.

Pro Tip: With all the energy and new ideas pouring in, it might be tempting to declare old initiatives or ways of working invalid. Try to build energy around new initiatives without trampling on old ones. They were most likely created by members of your team, and should be respected as having served well at a different point in time.

#2 Reset Negative Relationships

“Real leaders don’t play favorites, don’t get involved in drama, and they certainly don’t tolerate self-serving behavior “

- Mike Myatt, Chairman of N2Growth

Ask yourself these two questions:

Q1: Are you unhappy about your interactions with anyone in your workplace?

Q2: Are you unhappy about the interactions between anyone in your team?

If your answer to either or both of the questions is Yes, then you have a negative relationship that you might want to hit the reset button on. Conflict rarely resolves itself — in fact conflict normally escalates if not dealt with proactively, and resolved properly. Conflict in the close knit community of startup environments can be extra damaging as an informal culture can quickly spread resentment, create withdrawal, or cause factional infighting within the Startup.

Therefore, start the year by identifying these negative relationships, and holding yourself and your team accountable to manage them. When addressing conflict, remember that though it is very human to assign personal motive and blame in stressful times, there are many reasons for conflict. A common source of conflict in Startups is unclear goals, roles and processes. This is due to the ambiguity of having people with multiple roles, and rapidly changing priorities. So, make sure to avoid assumptions and enter the conversation with an open mind.

If you are still unsure about how to reset those negative relationships, I recommend an excellent book that guided my approach to difficult situations: Critical Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High.

#3 Set Goals for Yourself as a Leader

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate…I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration…In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated…”

— Haim G. Ginott

Ginott was a renowned psychologist and psychotherapist. He wrote that quote to describe the role of a teacher. I have always found that it helps leaders empathize with their impact on employees. In Startups with young people often on their first job, this quote rings even louder.

As a leader, you set the tone and example for your team. Therefore, if you want to change your team or your company, you need to first work on yourself. Start by gathering feedback from your people, your peers, your managers. Identify the one to two things that will create most impact for you and the people around you, and build a development plan to ensure that you stick with it.

Prioritize your development, and you will see the change reverberate through your team, your initiatives, and your company.

In Conclusion

Happy New Year! Set up your team and company for success by re-energizing around strategy, resetting negative relationships and prioritizing your growth as a leader. Good luck with your initiatives, and as usual, I am always available to answer questions at www.alisonleejy.com/contact.

If you like this article, you might be interested in: The Simplest and Most Effective Way to Help Your Employees Perform Better.

Alison Lee JY is an organizational psychologist, leadership consultant, and trainer who has spent years working with startups and Fortune 500 companies in the Health and Tech industries. When she is not working with leaders, you’ll find her nose buried in sci-fi. For more on Alison, check out www.alisonleejy.com.