Part of leadership is to have clarity and conviction around what is important. Your people are counting on you to set the priorities so they can execute towards business growth. Working on the wrong priorities is not only wasteful, but threatening to company profitability, and possibly survivability.
Getting clear about what matters and what needs to be discarded is opportunistic during this time of year as the business cycle flips into the new year. It’s a time where there is often a slow down with the holidays. Furthermore, new budgets are opening and annual reviews make performance a focal point. As a leader, here are three tips you can readily use to drive clear vision in the coming year:
1. Get rid of what no longer matters.
The first thing is to make a list of all the things you can think of, big and small, that should be abandoned altogether. This clears the decks and makes room for new opportunities. You can stop thinking about or putting money into initiatives that have run out of their usefulness. Servicing mediocre, much less obsolete, projects drains resources, mindshare and attention. As a leader, your goal is to allocate your team, budget and effort towards the very best opportunities. The timeliness and relevance of those opportunities changes over time. Reset ruthlessly by making space for what matters now by ridding yourself of yesterday’s commitments.
2. Research emerging trends.
Spend time reading, making phone calls and attending seminars to understand what is making money in your industry. Let your curiosity and exploration go far and wide. Budget the time to simply absorb the patterns that are emerging and happening in your industry. What are your competitors and the thought leaders in your space finding success within? What problems are customers struggling with? Where are investment dollars flowing into? Calling your colleagues and asking, “What are you seeing as opportunities?” can open up conversations and insights. Get the data from a wide information gathering campaign.
3. Commit to 3.
Write out 3 big payoffs for your organization in the next year. Ask yourself, “What moves the needle big time?” Quantify what those priorities would mean if you worked on those in the next year. How much more revenue would you gain? How much more market share would you gain? Let those ideas sit for a few days and ask, “Are there any better priorities?” If nothing comes to mind, commit and make a plan to get the increase.
You need space and time to think clearer and bigger. That is your job if you are in leadership. You have to pick the right work and communicate this with conviction to your team. Then get your team to build the plan to get those goals.
This is a practice that is continuous year over year. Focus on the right things and don’t let anything distract you. The urgent will always be there to pester you for attention, but that temptation can never take you off your job of winning with clarity!
