Only forty-one percent of the population make New Year’s resolutions, and ninety percent of those New Year’s resolutions are abandoned within six weeks. So why even bother? Well, if ten percent of all resolutions take hold, let’s examine what causes those to be successful.

This Week’s Edition

Let this year be driven by vision, purpose and strategy with a sprinkling of hope and training.

Clarify Your Thinking

I saw a friend recently. He was visibly more fit than the last time I had seen him.  I asked him, “tell me what’s going on with your fitness.” 

“I’ve lost 45 pounds over the past twenty plus weeks.” 

“How did you do it?” I asked.

“Well, I had come to the point where I thought I was never going to be able to lose any weight.  This was just going to be my middle of life fitness. I felt like I had tried before only to end up giving up.”

“What was different this time?” I asked.

“I hired a nutritionist who came referred by others who had experienced success. I paid a costly sum to have him support me for six months.”

In those two sentences, he offered the silver bullet to those who desire to be better at something, set a goal, and end up flaming out six weeks later.

For those reading this who have declared they want to be a better leader but feel like they’ve failed in their efforts, keep reading. 

First, ask yourself, “why do I want to be a better leader?” 

• Your role requires it

• The COVID era has gotten the better of you

• Some recent feedback has caused you to question your current leadership performance

In a coaching session with leaders who desire to improve, the immediate next question is, “How do I do it, Robin? How do I get better? I don’t even know where to start.”

If you do not answer this question, inertia will prevail. Meaning, you will just keep doing the same thing hoping for a different result. 

New Thinking: I need to move from just hoping to be better and trying to getting a real plan for leadership development in the area that will most impact my leadership performance, my team and the growth of the business. 

Thoughts Lead to Actions

My friend had a vision and a purpose: I want to be in the best fitness of my life so that each day I can have the stamina for the job and leftover energy for my family.

Then, he had a three-prong strategy: expertise, time, and budget. He hired an expert nutritionist. He dedicated time to accomplish his daily tasks. He invested in himself. 

Likewise, you the leader, who aspires to be a better leader, can follow this same methodology:

Vision: What does “be a better leader” mean at this moment for you? Be specific.

• I want to be better at communicating the why behind my directives

• I want to collaborate more with my direct team

• I want to confront challenging issues with more ease and regularity

Pick just one thing. When that becomes so engrained as to become habit, you can add another next year.

Purpose: Why do you want to be better in this area? Be specific. 

• What is the benefit to you for being better?

• What is the cost of not succeeding?

Let this “why” be your intrinsic motivation when things get challenging. 

Strategy: What is your three-prong approach?  Here are three possibilities among many. People who write it down are 80% more likely to succeed.

• Who is the expert you need to engage to support you? Hire them directly? Access them through a service? Buy their book? Listen to their podcast?

• What time is needed to do your daily/weekly tasks to learn what you need to learn? Is it reserved on your calendar?

• What is the budget for this endeavor for the year?

Move from desire to stated vision and purpose. Move from hope to strategy. Move from trying to training. 

Do. Fail. Do Again. Succeed. Do again. Do again. Habit.

Boost Your Performance

One leader said he focused on one thing all year. It changed the way he led day-to-day. He kept it up all year. The results were staggering. One thing many results. Great leverage. Learn more about it this week’s video.

What’s Your Opinion?

What is your ONE thing you want to accomplish this year? Share it with me at: robin.pou@robinpou.com.

Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!

Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist

If this was helpful, feel free to share it with another leader who needs to defeat doubt and complete their confidence.

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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.