Breaking the Cycle of Complacency: Supporting Growth in 2023

As the CEO of two companies that are continually growing and evolving, I've made it my mission to push my employees to succeed. One major part of this is teaching the importance of constant improvement. When you’ve achieved a certain level of success, it is easy to become complacent, convinced that you’ve already done enough and don’t need to make any major improvements. This is particularly relevant around the beginning of a new year: one can easily focus on the successes of the past year and be satisfied with what they have accomplished, regardless of if there is still potential for growth.

?

Yet as O.G. Mandino II once wrote, "I will not allow yesterday's success to lull me into today's complacency, for this is the great foundation of failure." There is a long list of companies out there that became industry leaders, only to end up stagnating and being left behind by their more innovative peers. The same can be said for business professionals: someone can go from being recognized as a mover-and-shaker one year to an underperformer the next if they rest on their laurels. As such, it is essential that leaders not only take steps to ensure they are constantly improving themselves, but also keep their employees motivated and encourage their growth as well.?

Complacency can be difficult to push back against. After all, it has been a tough couple of years and companies have enacted a lot of positive change, so one can be forgiven for wanting to slow down on the constant change that we’ve seen since early 2020. Yet it is the duty of a good leader to push their team to be their very best, recognizing their past accomplishments while spurring even further growth down the line. So, to help break the cycle of complacency in 2023, leaders should consider these actionable tips:

• Communication is key. The best way to encourage continuous improvement and growth is by building strong relationships with employees, especially those who are directly involved in change efforts.?
• Encourage collaboration between different people and teams, whether it's for company projects or just relationship-building exercises. In the past, I’ve paired up different management team members to give them a different perspective and help them with their own departments.
• Make time for fun collaboration opportunities, not just serious work. Not only can this help build better communication throughout the company, but when people get very busy, fun collaboration can help relieve stress and make it easier for teams to support each other.
• Don’t let comfort zones get in the way of growth. That applies just as much to yourself as it does to the people around you. Leaders or founders are likely to bump up against their own comfort zones as they work to grow their businesses. This often includes the very habits and approaches that made them successful in the first place.
• Set goals that are tough, yet attainable. Some people like to chase after aspirational goals that they are unlikely to achieve, or at least won’t achieve anytime soon. Yet while goals shouldn’t come easy, unattainable goals can leave people feeling discouraged and unmotivated.?
• Go beyond typical “sales” related goals. Every year, we set a specific number of annual goals, not just based on things like sales figures, but also grander efforts to elevate both my company’s overall growth. These are challenging, requiring the hands-on effort of every single employee all year long. This encourages departments to think outside the box and collaborate in ways they’ve never done before.
• The best way to ensure your goals are met is to make the reward equal to the challenge of the goals themselves. If the reward doesn’t seem worth the effort, good luck in convincing yourself or anyone else to put in the work. It might seem shallow, but if a trip to Hawaii is on the table, people will likely go the distance. So don’t be afraid to get on that same level.?

As we move into 2023, consider a simple phrase that I often ask my employees: “What have you done for me lately?” When I ask them this, I want to remind them that while we should enjoy the fruits of our labor, we still need to stay motivated on what’s next. It can be tempting to not fix what’s broken, especially when business is doing well. Yet complacency often catches up with us when we least expect it. By encouraging effective communication among employees and facilitating a culture of innovation and support, you can help your business thrive in 2023 and beyond.?