The one thing all business leaders can learn from 2021

I think it’s fair to state that 2021 was an?interesting?year for us all. You may have had very high expectations (after 2020 you could only go up, right?) or you didn’t have any expectation considering, as a nation, we’re still very much amidst a pandemic.

Whatever your perception, I’m sure you’ve come away with a few big takeaways or themes that emerged. While I encountered a handful, the one that stands tallest in the crowd is?patience.

My team and I set ambitious goals for the year and while we saw progress, not all of the goals were met — and that’s OK. I’ve always been one to believe in setting your eyes on the moon so you can fall somewhere among the stars.

So while patience can be perceived as both a negative or positive connotation (in contrast to “hustle till it happens“), I’d like to dive into the things that patience taught me as a business owner that will shape my leadership style heading forward into the new year.

Patience allowed me to rethink hiring

The state of the world meant?best practices and trends ?in hiring drastically changed. For the first half of the year, many businesses struggled to fill roles. That extended into the third quarter where we saw a flux and influx in hiring as well. Many people were hesitant to take non-remote roles as variants of the coronavirus emerged. Moreover, many employees were on the search for?new roles with stronger benefits .

This year taught me patience in filling roles. I’ve learned to not just fill a role because we need an extra set of hands. Hiring can be quite costly, if not done properly. I’ve learned to take the time to really get to know each of my employees on a personal level and be patient while they adapt to their new roles.

Patience allowed me to re-evaluate goals

As mentioned, I came into 2021 with high hopes and big goals to tackle. While I can look back and say I’m proud of the progress my team and I made, we didn’t cross off every goal on the agenda.?However, we never moved the needle to a lower position or settled for just OK.

Instead, we decided to make smaller goals that were a little more feasible and set audacious goals for 2022. While we keep the vision on paper and in our hearts, we can still patiently work our way toward them week over week. Even if it’s inch by inch.

Patience allowed me to find happiness in the chaos

This one goes out to all the people who still think they’ll allow themselves to enjoy their work?once?they hit their goals. This year, I learned that if that’s your attitude, you may be waiting for an awfully long time. Because the truth is, oftentimes we hit our goals faster when we’re not chasing them but simply enjoying the process, no matter the pace.

Even when planned campaigns fell off track or when things piled up at overwhelming speeds, I decided I was going to enjoy it. That meant the weekend and late-night shifts too. What’s the point of it all if you’re not enjoying the process? The hectic, unpredictable, sometimes chaotic, process. I’ve learned to choose patience and smile through it all.

Patience with myself, employees and life

To recap 2021, I’ve learned to get to know the people I work with better and leverage the effectiveness of empathy and communication. Talking when things are difficult, and when things are going well, so we can progress together. So many individuals had internal battles to deal with. With this, we can all learn kindness and patience with each other.

Understand we all move at different speeds but we can work toward brighter futures together. Both on a broader scale, as the nation works itself out of a pandemic, as well as within each of our own organizations.

*Originally published on https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2022/01/03/the-one-thing-all-business-leaders-can-learn-from-2021.html