December 2023
Holiday Edition
December is typically the most hectic month of the year. Finishing the business year strong, while finalizing planning for next year converges with the holidays to create an overstuffed schedule that can run you ragged.
The remedy for this is recognizing that you simply cannot do everything, even if you feel you must. Some to-do’s inevitably have a December 31st deadline and can’t be pushed off to January. (Including your New Year’s Eve plans). To save your sanity, try taking an honest look at what absolutely has to get done and who you have to see this month, and relocate everything else to the New Year.
Full disclosure: I wrote this for myself as much as you!
Principles for a Strong 2024
As you think about the year to come, here are a few practical ideas:
PACE: Try not to sprint out of the gates in January. I’m not suggesting a sloth-like start, but I regularly witness leaders exhausting themselves and their teams by mid-February by trying to accomplish the entire year’s objectives during the first quarter. We routinely overestimate what is possible in a month or quarter, but underestimate what is possible in a year (or a few years).
FOCUS: Take stock of your priorities and whittle them down to the essentials. My scientific approach for most individuals and teams is to have around 5 priorities, plus or minus 2. Fewer than 3 and you risk being myopic. More than 7, and you are spread too thin in terms of resources and time, advancing many objectives by inches instead of a few critical priorities by miles.
DEVELOPMENT: Create a plan for your own development. What will you do to raise the bar or reach that proverbial next level as an executive? How will you invest in your professional and personal growth? Nothing pays a higher dividend than you getting better at what you do.
CONNECTION: Your team will be inspired by you based on their emotional connection with you. Your ability to use emotions – your enthusiasm, your encouragement and development of talent in others, your concern and even anger (used sparingly when appropriate) will draw people to you. We aren’t robots. People are emotional beings and few things matter more than connection as a leader.
Thank You for Your Support
Thank you again for your support in 2023! It was a memorable year, as The Growth Leader was published and became a Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller. If you haven’t downloaded the complementary companion workbook, you can find it here.
LinkedIn Live
I'm a guest for a number of podcasts and livestream events over the coming months and will be sharing the recordings on LinkedIn as well as future newsletters. Between the podcasts and the holidays on the horizon, I decided to skip the November and December LinkedIn Live. I will return on January 16th with new topics, new content, and a new year ahead. As always, if there are topics you'd like me to cover in the livestream format, I welcome your suggestions and feedback. Stay tuned!
