Leverage a Mid-Year Check-In to Get Ahead (#203)
The Confident Leader
BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Do you remember January 1st? Does that seem like a year ago or longer? A lot has happened in the past six months. Are you still on track?
“The days are long. The years are short.”
― Gretchen Rubin (American author, blogger and speaker)
This Week’s Edition
Have the past six months caused you to drift away from the things you wanted to accomplish this year?
Clarify Your Thinking
I was chatting with Chris, the CEO of his high-growth private company. He said, “Robin, it’s hard to stay focused in a single meeting let alone for an entire year. I’ve got big goals for our organization this year, but the events of the past six months have been highly distracting. How do I stay on track as I watch the months roll by?”
Chris is not alone. Many leaders start the year with ambitious goals and a strong desire to achieve them.
However, at some point in the first two quarters, they find themselves merely reacting to the acute issues of the day.
They earnestly desire to return to their annual objectives but can’t seem to move from reactive to proactive. With each passing day, they find themselves further away from their original plan.
92% of people don’t achieve the goals they set out to accomplish. What do the other 8% know and/or do that sets them apart?
Old Thinking: How did it get to be July 1st already? I had great plans for what we were going to accomplish this year. Time is slipping away and I’m fighting fires each week.
New Thinking: I’ve slipped into reactive mode out of necessity, but there is still time. I am going to do a mid-year check-in and right my leader-ship.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
If you find yourself in the same boat as Chris, here are 7 coaching questions I would ask you:
- Are you still clear on your Vision for the end of 2024?
- Is there any new information that might cause you to adjust your Vision?
- For Q1 and Q2 what were you trying to accomplish?
- Did you accomplish those things? Why or why not?
- What do you want to accomplish in Q3 and is that in alignment with your Vision?
- What do you need to be successful?
- What do you need to give up to increase your likelihood of success?
Step 1: Spend 30 minutes asking yourself these questions.
Step 2: Write out your answers.
Step 3: Review your answers 24 hours later to determine your next steps.
As an alternative, have your thinking partner ask you these questions.
Note: processing verbally with someone else might yield better responses.
If the leadership textbook recommends a mid-year check-in with your key staff, why not follow that best practice for yourself?
Boost Your Performance
Watch this week’s video for bonus questions you can ask yourself in your mid-year check-in with yourself relative to your goals and objectives.
What’s Your Opinion?
When will you do this mid-year check-in with yourself? Share it with me at robin.pou@robinpou.com.
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.
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What is “The Confident Leader”?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.
