{"id":123,"date":"2020-01-17T08:35:10","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T08:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/enlightblog.com\/?p=123"},"modified":"2020-05-12T12:45:10","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T12:45:10","slug":"how-to-start-the-new-year-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/17\/how-to-start-the-new-year-right\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Start The New Year Right"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"start<\/p>\n

We\u2019re already a few weeks into 2019, but it\u2019s not too late to lay the groundwork for success with your teams that will pay dividends throughout the year. \u00a0Best-in-class companies start the year right by taking time to develop Aspirations<\/strong>, identify the Levers<\/strong> that support those aspirations and set a Positive, Energetic Tone<\/strong> to inspire employees. \u00a0By embracing these small steps, you and your team will have a shared foundation for executing and adjusting throughout the year as unexpected highs and lows come your way.<\/p>\n

Aspirations<\/h2>\n

If you haven\u2019t already, determine your aspirations for the year – or the next few years – and distill them down to key points that can be a rallying cry for you and your employees. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t have to be a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal from Jim Collin\u2019s seminal book, Good to Great<\/a>), but it should be easy to interpret, paint a picture of success and resonate with the entire company.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always beneficial to engage employees – and maybe customers – in developing the aspiration, but don\u2019t let perfect be the enemy of good. \u00a0If you don\u2019t have an existing way to incorporate employee and customer input, work with what\u2019s already available. Over the years, we\u2019ve helped clients develop tangible, actionable aspirations like:<\/p>\n

\"startyearoffrightaspirations\"<\/p>\n

If you already determined your aspirations as part of an annual planning process – Congratulations! \u00a0Make sure they aren\u2019t locked in a drawer. Get reacquainted with them. Recommit to their power. Reiterate them to the entire company.<\/p>\n

The more you use your aspiration, the more powerful it becomes. \u00a0Use it as a rallying cry. Use it as a backdrop for communications throughout the year. \u00a0Use it to explain business decisions. Your team will come to recognize how important it is to you as a leader, reinforcing that the biggest priorities in the company align to achieve it.<\/p>\n

Levers<\/h2>\n

What are the three to five most important things your company needs to accomplish to achieve its aspiration? \u00a0Programs that support your aspirations are levers. Often cross-functional initiatives, levers reinforce to employees those accomplishments leadership believes are most closely aligned with achieving the aspiration.<\/p>\n

Maybe you and your team identified key levers during the annual planning process, but we\u2019ve found that all too often annual planning produces a laundry list of tasks for individual business functions – instead of focused priorities to guide day-to-day decisions. \u00a0Working towards a common goal empowers employees and aligns their efforts with the company\u2019s priorities. Your goal is to provide guidance, not micromanage specific functions.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of how we translated one client\u2019s aspiration into actionable levers:<\/p>\n

\"startyearoffrightlevers\"<\/p>\n

Like aspirations, levers become more powerful when they are consistently integrated into communications to and from employees. \u00a0Engage teams through interim progress reports that reference the levers they own. \u00a0Celebrate wins (big and small), capture insights (especially when you face obstacles or challenges) and communicate progress to the company, as appropriate.<\/p>\n

Stuff happens. \u00a0If new, critical initiatives emerge that can\u2019t be tied to a specific lever, be as transparent as possible about the change and what\u2019s driving it – and incorporate new initiatives into employee communications going forward.<\/p>\n

Positive, Energetic Tone<\/h2>\n

You have the power to set the tone for the entire company. \u00a0Your mood and energy have a huge impact on employee morale and their discretionary effort. \u00a0A bit of self-awareness can help set the right tone for everyone.<\/p>\n

\"startyearoffrighttone\"<\/p>\n

Look for ways to set the tone through language and rituals. \u00a0One simple ritual is to align staff meetings with your aspirations and levers. \u00a0Start meetings by repeating them along with any specific metrics or goals for the year that support it. \u00a0Incorporate relevant levers as individual agenda items for the meeting, using positive language to recognize progress to date. \u00a0Use this time to identify opportunities to celebrate and objectively examine setbacks as a team.<\/p>\n

To perform exceptionally and reach aspirations, a positive team also needs energy – energy you can help create. \u00a0You\u2019ve hired a bright team who will give to you what you give to them. Look for ways to energize the team through the words, body language and energy you bring to every interaction.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve started the year right, everyone understands what\u2019s important to the company and how they contribute to success. \u00a0A team excited about future possibilities for the company feels energy and excitement themselves. Use Aspirations, Levers, and a Positive, Energetic Tone to kick off a successful year ahead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re already a few weeks into 2019, but it\u2019s not too late to lay the groundwork for success with your teams that will pay dividends throughout the year. \u00a0Best-in-class companies start the year right by taking time to develop Aspirations, identify the Levers that support those aspirations and set a Positive, Energetic Tone to inspire employees. \u00a0By embracing these small steps, you and your team will have a shared foundation for executing and adjusting throughout the year as unexpected highs and lows come your way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8,13,21,31],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-communications","tag-execution","tag-leadership","tag-strategy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}