End-of-Year Compass Setting

4 Powerful Steps to Wrap Up Strong and Set a Steady Course for 2025

As the year winds to a close, many people I talk with find themselves caught between the rush to finish strong and the temptation to coast into the holidays. It’s easy to focus on immediate tasks—closing deals, meeting targets, and managing the year-end chaos—but what if I told you there’s a better way to end the year with intention, alignment, and momentum?

The truth is, how you finish this year sets the tone for the next. One of my Core Values is: “The way I do anything is the way I do everything”. I don’t believe in waiting for January 1 for New Year’s Resolutions, I believe in creating every day anew, starting today. So instead of chasing more of the same, let’s pivot. Let’s take an accountable, purposeful approach to close out the year in a way that inspires confidence and clarity—not just in yourself, but with your team too.

Here are four surprising yet tangible actions you can take to finish the year strong. I’ve designed each step to create space for clarity and growth, enhancing your focus, and create the sparks of possibility.

1. Evaluate Your Leadership Team’s Capacity—Not Their Performance

Most leaders wrap up the year by evaluating what their team achieved (or didn’t achieve). While this is valuable, it often misses a critical dimension: capacity.

This comes from the EOS tool: GWC. GWC stands for “Get’s It, Want’s It, Has the Capacity”, and it’s how I work with my clients to evaluate if they have the Right People on the team.

Ask yourself:

Is each member of my leadership team operating at their full capacity in their zone of Unique Ability, or are they overwhelmed, underutilized, or stuck in the wrong seat?

Have I given them the tools and clarity they need to succeed, or am I expecting them to deliver without proper alignment or support?

Do they have the time and space to plan and think strategically—or are they simply firefighting?

To me, a high-performing team isn’t just measured by results; it’s measured by your ability to function cohesively, show up with positive presence, be for each other, and handle the inevitable arising complexity with grace. Schedule 1:1 conversations with your leadership team to discuss not just their wins and challenges, but also their current capacity. This exercise may reveal blind spots—such as misaligned roles, inefficiencies, or team dynamics—that are holding your organization back.

2. Confront Your Open Loops (And Close Them)

Are issues staying unsolved on your issues list? Unresolved issues—whether they’re messy people problems, lingering decisions, or neglected projects—are the silent killers of focus and momentum. I know for myself, and see in my work with my clients, open loops sap energy, creating drag that slows down progress.?

Take a hard look at your business and identify:

Are there people issues you’ve been avoiding? Who on your team is consistently not meeting expectations? What heart-to-heart conversations need to happen before the year ends?

Are there decisions that remain unmade? What’s holding you back from committing? A lack of clarity? Fear of failure?........or….Fear of success?

Are there projects that are neither moving forward nor consciously paused. What needs to happen to either complete or table them decisively?

Closing open loops doesn’t mean resolving everything perfectly. It means removing ambiguity, setting clear next steps, and making decisions that reduce drag and create clarity for the year ahead.

3. Align Around a Singular Priority for Q1

Leadership teams often enter January with a laundry list of goals—unless you are using a system like EOS most of them will fail to get traction. I’ve been there too. In EOS we work on the top 3-7 priorities. But sometimes instead of chasing multiple priorities, you need to just focus on one. Not seven. Not three. One.

Ask your team:

• If we could only accomplish one thing in Q1 that would set us up for success in 2025, what would it be?
• What issue, if solved, would remove the biggest obstacle to growth and progress?
• What does “Done” look like, and who do we have to BE to get to “Done”?

Getting your team aligned around a singular priority builds momentum and ensures everyone starts the year rowing in the same direction. A clear Q1 focus prevents wasted effort and empowers your team to execute with discipline and accountability.

4. Reflect on Your BEing—Not Just Your Doing

This may feel unconventional, but as a leader, your presence and mindset impact your business as much as any strategy or system. Those of you who know me, know this is a huge focus for me, especially in my individual executive coaching. The most successful race teams I worked with had that winning presence and mindset, you could tangibly feel it in the room. It applies to you too. How you show up in December will set the emotional tone for your team as they close out the year.

Take time to reflect:

• Are you leading with calm confidence, or are you projecting stress and uncertainty?
• Are you taking responsibility for the energy you bring into meetings, conversations, and decisions?
• Are you operating with clarity and focus, or are you stuck in reactive mode?

Leadership isn’t just about what you do—it’s about who you are BEing. Spend some time grounding yourself in your purpose, values, and vision for the future. When you model alignment and intentionality, your team will naturally follow suit.

The Invitation

These four steps aren’t just about ending the year strong—they’re about creating a fundamental shift in trajectory that sets a new heading for sustainable growth, clarity, and alignment. They require showing up with courage, focus, and accountability. They demand honest conversations with yourself and your team.

If you find yourself stuck or uncertain about how to navigate these steps, it’s OK. You’re not alone. As a coach who specializes in helping leadership teams gain clarity, align their vision, and get unstuck, I’d be honored to support you. Let’s talk about how you can close out this year with confidence and set the stage for an extraordinary 2025.

You don’t have to figure it out alone. The best leaders are the ones who are willing to be open and ask for help.

2025 Goal-Mapping Masterclass

Get ready to map out a path to set and hit your goals with the precision and focus of a seasoned navigator.

In this online masterclass, I?will share my?unique approach to goal-mapping.

You will discover practical tools to define your vision, prioritize key objectives, and assess the systems you will need to navigate the challenges that lie ahead.

In this talk, I'll be sharing the lessons I have learned on how to:

? Define a Clear Vision for next year

? Prioritize Key Objectives with Confidence

? Build Systems to Navigate Challenges

? Create a Roadmap to Sustain Momentum…

AND MUCH MORE

By the end of this session, you’ll have the tools to create a powerful roadmap for a successful 2025, with clear direction and unwavering confidence.

I invite you to come join us!

Where: Zoom

When: Thursday, December 19, 9-10am MT

Register here: ColoradoLeadersForum.com

If you can't attend, register anyway and we'll send out the replay link.

Our #1 Priority for 2025 Q1

We have completed the construction of the greenhouse project at our farm, Sweet Earth Orchard, and are fine-tuning its balance and operation. Now, we are focusing on our next major initiative.

Creating a tangible meeting space that takes Sweet Earth Orchard to the next level as a retreat center for you to come and get reconnected and grounded will be our #1 goal for 2025.

To make progress on that we have executed these milestones:

? Settled on a conceptual requirements

? Sketched out a concept design

? Engaged a builder to move the concept to reality

? Engaged an architect to develop a set of plans?

Wishing you a strong finish and a purposeful start to the new year!

Steve Morris

Certified EOS Implementer & Leadership Coach