News & Blog

Here we are – about 60 days past the start of the new year, and I would suggest it is a great time to evaluate where we are in achievement of our individual goals, both in life and at work.

Are you someone who makes new year’s resolutions? Do you write them down and keep track, or do you mull it over and try to stay focused? What do yours tend to focus on? I created a list for myself for this year and took the time to write it down, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before. My list covers some of the usual suspects – eat more nutritious food, exercise, and read more books, among other things. It also includes several career goals that I want to achieve.

I know that I’m not particularly good about sticking to resolutions, so I have to find ways to trick myself in to complying with certain goals. For example, I’ve been wanting to consistently increase my time and effort in strength training. But instead of waiting until January 1, I got a training program started on December 21; that way, I already had regular habits built by the time January 1 came and went.

According to Inc. Magazine, most new year’s resolutions are abandoned by January 19. Strava dove into their user data and predicted the day people are most likely to give up on their New Year’s Resolution: January 19, dubbed “Quitter’s Day!”

Well, I made it past January 19 with my strength training plan, and I credit self-awareness with finding a way to maintain focus. Over a lifetime of forgetting about some of my goals, while creating plenty of new ones, here is what I’ve learned: the beauty of setting goals is that you can create them any time. Similarly, you can re-commit yourself to putting the work in any time – you don’t have to wait ten more months for the new year!

As March begins, what priorities do you have for 2021? Are any of them starting to slip? I would challenge you to write them down if you haven’t already. Try to establish support systems (aka casual accountability networks) to help you stay on track or problem solve when you hit a roadblock.

And don’t forget that we are here for you, too! I had a call with one of my clients back in November and we talked about their business goals for 2021. Their business was dealt a significant hit with Covid-19 as they serve the travel industry, so this year will be one of investment while hoping the industry bounces back. They had to let go of quite a few staff members early in the pandemic, and now, with a skeleton crew, are preparing for growth by rebuilding/hiring strategically. Together, we laid out a plan to keep culture and strategy at the forefront while new people are brought on board.

At another client with a very large marketing team, the head of Marketing mentioned to HR that she felt like her five direct reports were very siloed; they interacted when they had to, but otherwise they were not communicating outside of their organized weekly meetings. We were able to organize a teambuilding activity with their group to help bring awareness to who each person was on the team and how they interacted with each other. Each person could see what qualities they could look for in the others that could complement or contrast their own, which helped them build respect and appreciation across the team. Strengthening self-awareness was also helpful so each person could see how they were being perceived by the group; that came simply by reviewing each person’s BA.

These are just some examples of what clients encounter and how we are poised to support them. What is your team facing this year? What are your business strategies for 2021? Are you on track for success? Have all of your employees completed a behavioral assessment, and has each person received their behavioral report? How many of your teams have had a chance to see their Group Analytics with a guided discussion around what those analytics might be able to tell them? Has senior leadership taken part in a Talent Strategy Session? What are YOUR goals at work? If they involve people and strategy, reach out to your consultant so we can support you!

Author: Dorothy Matlis