Four Steps to Reset for Results
The fresh winds of change greet us every September. Kids return to school, families get back into routine, and businesses reset objectives to finish the year strongly. If you’re anything like me, you experience the excitement of something new mixed with the wistfulness for a few more days on the lake or at the beach. Hopefully, summer has offered an opportunity to recharge and prepare for new challenges.
No doubt related to years of conditioning, but this time of year still feels more like the beginning of the new year than January does to me. It tends to be a “busy” month and the shift in energy takes a bit of adjustment. It is, however, a great time to pause, review, and evaluate what’s happening around you, rather than getting swept up in the rush of getting “back-to” everything. Creating this time and space allows you to identify gaps between your goals and your results. This opportunity for renewal is important because action often veers away from intention and sometimes a little course correction is required. A few mindful steps will be more effective than simply jumping into action:
1. Discern Needed Changes
This is the time to be really honest with yourself. Take a look at your results and ask if they reflect high performance. Hold yourself and your team to the standards you value. Many leaders are “big picture” visionaries, great at ideas and initial enthusiasm, and paying less attention to the work. Consistent high performance and constant improvement are impossible without follow-through and evaluation.
2. Clarify Your Choices
Once you know the changes, big or small, that you want to make, a number of decisions will need to be made. Consider what you may need to change personally and also what needs to happen with your team. This is the time to explore possibilities, without judgement, in order to identify your best opportunity. Avoid getting stuck in pros and cons, searching for consensus, and endless rumination about the best option. Engage those involved in the decision, make a clear choice, and remember that alignment is more important than agreement.
3. Communicate Decisions
Managing the energy of your team and business requires being present, hearing what is being said, and managing your own biology to avoid reactivity. Communication is at least 70% to 80% body language so it is essential to be congruent with the messages you share. In other words, say what you mean and mean what you say. Open communication will not solve everything; however, it is essential to inviting alignment and motivating participation.
4. Build Capability
Sometimes your team just needs more support. If someone does not know how to do something, the best communication about what you want will not solve that problem. Recognizing when and where new skills or resources are needed is also essential to leadership and performance. Stay connected with your people and understand the processes they are implementing to serve your clients and customers. As a leader, your team members always come first.
This cycle of change never ends. As you grow, it only expands or cycles more quickly. As circumstances shift, new challenges arise and old patterns are revealed. Realizing where energy is blocked individually or organizationally and committing to addressing that breakdown will get things moving again. As a hint, it’s usually the things you would prefer to avoid. A performance coach can be an invaluable resource to reveal your blindspots, provide a more objective viewpoint, and help you reach and sustain high performance. As one of my dear friends and mentors says, “awareness is the greatest agent of change.” After that, it’s all about action, feedback, and the occasional reset.