“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.”— Hal Borland
If you are like many of my best clients, you thoroughly enjoyed the holidays. You may have done some work, but not as much as you may have intended.
Now it is time to get started in the world of work again. And you want to get started fast.
The most powerful way to do that is to immediately follow through on the most important items you left incomplete when the holidays started. Here are three things to do to ensure your follow-through has the impact you desire.
Complete a big thing from last year and make it public. One of my clients was working hard to complete a process for ensuring a healthy strategic roadmap for the whole organization. He completed it and made it public for everyone to see when they returned to work on January 6th.
Gather the people for a strong kick-off. With three different clients, I have set up a kick-off meeting to ensure we start fast. We will confirm our commitment to our biggest goals for the year. We will confirm it by committing to the key things we will get done this week, and the next week, and the week after that.
Follow through in person. The “holiday-chasm” was significant for any projects that were building momentum. The start of the year is the time to rebuild that momentum. The final indispensable component is to make contact in person or by phone and talk to the key people who are doing things for your project.
Re-connect. Re-commit. Re-energize!
Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,
Alan Willett
