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Three Questions to Set the Stage for Q2 Like a CEO

My first quarter has been absolutely amazing! I’ve been true to my theme of Simplicity and focusing on the levers to grow my business: investing in my business, my reach and my well being. I’m pleased to share that we’ve been moving forward according to plan, but amidst my joy I contemplate about how others are doing. I’ve seen so many people focus on their 1st quarter only to see their best laid plans start to fall apart and then they repeat the cycle of hurry up with activity vs. reflecting and asking well placed questions. When we think vs. just do, we get focused and back on track must faster and here’s how: 

 How are you feeling?

   Excited, accomplished or frustrated, tired and feeling off track?

 I was feeling off track this month and realized I had to finalize my goals and actions. Now that I have my monthly goals set and my weekly & daily accountability tracking, I feel like I’m set up for success and realizing peace of mind.  I start here, because if you don’t analyze your gut, mind & heart about achieving your goals,  we need to make quick course corrections now.

After working with a client for about 3 months, I asked them how they felt. They said things seemed calm and felt good about working on strategic work vs getting caught up in the weeds. I was grateful for the feedback and was rooted in needed accountability processes to manage the chaos. Feeling is a good barometer, but we always need to know that things are going well.

    What are others saying about your Q1?

 If you’re projecting your goals and regularly communicating them, stakeholders will respond to you. It may show up such as “How can I help?” or “can I get a copy of that report?” or “can you come and present that at our next meeting?”, or “can I provide you some feedback”. When the world is responding, it’s a good indicator you’re focused. 

As a bonus, I propose you journal these events. When we take note of how others are responding to you, it reinforces these behaviors. It also provides self feedback on what to continue, start or change. It may be that you’re getting lots of attention in one area, but not so much in another area; you have an opportunity to course correct in multiple areas. Leaders do this over and over as part of their personal development. 

Are you still passionate about the work?

 If you’re not, your energy will wane and so will the project. Ask yourself what is hard, challenging, or areas where you’re not confident. This is the time to speak to your inner circle just to validate you’re still on track. Sometimes talking to someone else will give you clarity and the passion will come back. If you are passionate, move on. If not, when were you passionate and what changed? (failure to delegate, lack of support).

THE CEO’s COMPASS is a great tool to help you see where you’re off track

Are you capable of getting the work done or do you need help?

 So many leaders feel a sense of pride to do it alone. Please don’t wait too long for technical support. I call this corporate courage; when leaders find the strength to ask for help the moment they feel it in their gut they’re off track. I find leaders simply need a place to talk through the challenges and why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leader support. To learn more about our next event, you can visit our page and register. 

Now that I’ve shared with you some questions to confirm if you’re focused and on track, let me know about your conclusions. If you are on track, let’s celebrate together! If you’re not on track, who could you turn to for support? Do you have a colleague, a mentor or an accountability partner? Could The Drop In CEO be your support system? Message me and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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How to Create Momentum and Drive Success as an Emerging Leader

Throughout my career, I get excited about new initiatives and often put a lot of time into thinking about possibilities. However, big ideas can fall flat if we don’t now how to move them forward. Let me share a client story so you understand what I mean.  

Let’s call this client Mike, who I was working with to evolve their continuous improvement program. Weeks and months would go by where we wouldn’t get visibility to the status of the initiative. Often he would deflect or make excuses or if you came to him in person, you would get a verbal status. It became frustrating for leadership not to have the report for this initiative to track his progress and make sure he stayed on track. 

Upon further discussion with him, he was always the execution guy, but never had to report formally to leadership. He never had a framework. I worked with him on what information would be required by leaders for a monthly high level status report and then we built a schedule for him to collect the data, review, and issue on a monthly basis. Once that system was built, getting support for the initiative was easy because it was visible. 

We make assumptions that people know how to kick off an initiative, but the reality is the plan is often already laid out for them, leaving them to execute. Knowing how to build a plan and keeping accountable to your own plan is a skill many leaders don’t have. They fall victim to the easy fire fighting and any other problem that comes in their door. They know how to solve problems, but fail to have a reliable system to plan, prevent and ultimately improve through initiatives. 

Creating momentum behind an initiative is a harder skill than you think and often missed when elevating to the C-Suite. 

Here are some thoughts on how to build a process to move your initiatives forward:

  • Confirm you are still committed to the initiative. Moving forward without passion will kill success out of the gate.
  • Put your thoughts down on paper to get a high level view of your idea. Don’t seek perfection, seek to iterate. 
  • Run it by a stakeholder ask for feedback. Making a proposal is already a step towards leadership.
  • Build in accountability – weekly report and reminders until it becomes routine.
  • Communicate, communicate, communicate and acknowledge the collaboration of others. It’s not just about moving your initiative forward, but also gaining the collaboration of others. 

These are simply ideas to get you moving your initiative forward. However, if you still struggle, I ask you a few questions:

  • If you can’t master this skill, how can you ensure others will replicate your behavior?
  • If you aren’t committed, should you be a leader or simply a single contributor?
  • If you’ve mastered this and your team around you has challenges, do you have the courage to ask for help if you don’t have the capacity to elevate others?

These are bold questions for which leaders must face and be able to answer. Now I challenge you to act. Look at your initiative and apply this framework or something of your own making.

Do you still have questions unique to your situation? Consider The Drop In CEO Collective to pose these challenges or reach out to me direct for a quick conversation.

P.S. Stay ahead of the curve in your industry and get to the point of what C-Suite leaders need to know by joining the Get to the Point Newsletter.  You’ll be the first to hear about the latest trends, insights, and strategies that can take your business to the next level.

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