Now is a perfect time to reflect on what you and your team have accomplished throughout the year. Leaders naturally look ahead to the future – it’s their job. However, a common refrain is “we don’t take enough time to acknowledge and appreciate what has been accomplished or learned.”

Summarizing the annual highlights won’t take much time and pausing typically leads to a sense of both satisfaction and gratitude. Note the significant accomplishments. Be real about unplanned events which factored into the outcome. Consider top lessons learned. Who was involved in the achievement? How do I thank them?

Enjoy the pause!

“Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Charles Dickens

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Double dip: a second recurrence of some bad event or trial outside our control in short succession to the first – e.g., economic recession, market downturn, disease, or viral pandemic. These situations are hard on people physically and psychologically so people can become discouraged. They recently experienced the excitement of getting through the difficulty, then WHAM, the double dip – they are right back in hard times.

Leaders should acknowledge the difficulty of reverting to tighter restrictions and more limited resources. More importantly, leaders should keep people encouraged – acknowledge their efforts, share in the extra work, and provide hope for the future.

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;” William Shakespeare in King Henry V
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Plants perform better with pruning. Proper pruning:

• Improves health and vigor.
• Maintains good shape and structure.
• Focuses the plant’s resources on its best aspects.

Similarly, proper “pruning” in organizations strengthens the whole. Don’t continue adding new and more without figuring out what should be eliminated and reduced. This is how organizations become over-grown.

Consider what activities and costs are no longer producing the desired value. Use segmentation analysis to determine which products, services or customers are no longer a value-fit. Thin down your list of opportunities and potential investments to those which require the organization’s best, limited resources to flourish.

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” Peter F. Drucker

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Isn’t it refreshing talking with leaders who are excited to share stories and measures of impact rather than telling you how big an organization they lead? It’s refreshing because the default measures of success are generally revenue volume, market valuation, and number of employees. Does significance come only from having a larger organization?

Imagine you and your team thinking through how to measure and communicate impact along with units of size. Maybe identify measures around:

• Your purpose (cause)
• Impact made in your customer’s and employee’s lives
• Your community investment

The focus shifts our thinking to how we can multiply impact.

“You can have an impact anywhere you are.” Tony Dungy

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Creative work is important for leaders. This encompasses everything from innovating new offerings and business models to crafting a new process or marketing campaign. There is pressure with this work to “get it right” the first time. However, final-form solutions are rarely the result of the first draft. Innovation involves drafting and re-drafting. This is a tough reality. The pride of authorship may also lead to defensiveness toward feedback.

It can be liberating to know we don’t have to create perfect. Soliciting challenging input earlier typically yields a stronger solution while saving time, energy and money.

Create working solutions and iterate.

“The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” Edwin H Land

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Leaders of renown have used one ability to great effect – instilling hope. Hope is a powerful agent of perseverance and improvement which stems from holding up an inspiring vision. God designed humans with the unique ability to hope for something better in the physical and spiritual future – a better future pulls us through any present season of difficulty and uncertainty. We should work to connect with common hopes people share – safety, autonomy, good health, satisfaction from productive work, whole relationships, better opportunities, greater justice, equity, and freedom.

Tap into themes of hope and draw people with you through challenging times.

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.” Desmond Tutu

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