2019 has taken its final breath and it is time to start a new year. 2020 is just waking up but holds huge promise. The economy is strong, unemployment is low and the environment for business is ripe for growth.
Simultaneously, business has been going on over the holidays. Shipment related issues, employees who have chosen to make their move to a new role and a million others are waiting for you upon your return. Add to this the need to kick the sales team off on a new revenue goal. For most, the first response is to clear the deck of these urgent items and then start on the list you are responsible for.
While a certain number of these items do require a response, many of the items banging on your door will wait. As a leader, your role is moving the organization forward and attaining the strategic goals set forth. A better first step might be to consolidate the urgent requests only to those that will cause injury or harm and leave the rest to smolder for a few precious days. Make a list or identify those items you are consciously choosing not to respond to – you’ll need them later.
Those days you recover are likely best spent unpacking the strategic planning sessions from late December and developing execution plans for their successful completion. This evaluation process will identify details from the planning process that need refinement and will go a long way towards getting your team focused on new tasks.
Once the process is complete it’s time to pull out the list of items you chose to ignore. Now that the team is set on their new goals and deliverables, they will also start to focus on these new tasks with importance. You will likely be able to cross many of those urgent items off of your list as they will have magically evaporated in the process. The team will have made a decision and will be excited to be a part of the growth.