Tips for surviving 2023 from some smart senior design leaders.

What a wild ride these past few years have been! Though a new year offers the promise of a fresh start, it seems like change, uncertainty, fear and doubt are simply marching on as we head into 2023... But there's hope.

In the final round of roundtables last year for our InsideOut Design Leader Community, we asked a bunch of awesome senior leaders what advice they would give to others (or themselves!) to prepare for this year. Below are some of their responses we hope you find as inspiring and encouraging as we did:

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL

• Ask yourself, what you can stop doing or worrying about this year?
• Get ready for change and don't panic.
• Think of one thing in your control that you’d like to achieve and focus on that.
• Think beyond 2023. Figure out what you want to work on.
• “80% of success in life is just showing up”, so show up.

GO WITH THE FLOW

• Listen to Ted Lasso: "You know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? Got a ten-second memory."
• Move forward one bite-sized step at a time.
• Keep things in perspective. Don’t stress the small things.
• Remember it’s not personal. It’s all going to be OK, and it’s not about you.
• Don't fear change. Roll with it and see what good comes out of it.

THINK CAREER, NOT JOB

• Be prepared; have your resume and portfolio ready at all times.
• Reconnect with your network.
• Learn, just learn.
• Be aware of how the business is operating and don't assume you're insulated.
• Remember: What you're doing today may not be what you'll be doing next.
• Align your team's work directly to business priorities.
• Get ready to throw out all our preconceived notions about what leadership is (it's changing/changed).

HAVE A PLAN (BUT DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH IT)

• Create a vision board and share with others, then look back at the end of the year.
• Set some 30-60-90 day goals.
• Reset. Find new ways to approach things.
• Lean into and embrace adaptability.
• Let go of perfection.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

• Plan out your time off in advance and put yourself first.?
• Be kind to yourself. If we can’t be empathetic & compassionate with ourselves, we can’t do that for others.?
• Stay hopeful.
• Don't get caught in the meat grinder. Take time for yourself; work will be there when you get back.
• Find a peaceful place and go there (make sure it's a place you can return to often).

Phew. And now to put some of those ideas into practice as we all work to make the most of this brand new year filled with possibilities!

Why do we care? Our mission is to connect leaders to find solutions. If you’re a senior design, experience, or operations leader of an in-house team at a high profile brand and want to connect to others who share your unique challenges, let’s talk. Our?InsideOut community?hosts virtual and in-person roundtables to support the learning, growth, and sanity of our members, and we're honored to facilitate those discussions. You can find more learnings from our group on?our InsideOut blog. Let’s keep learning together!