Transition Plan: 3 Steps To Prepare for Success in 2019

Image Credit: Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay

​2018 is in the home stretch. This is the time for looking back at the year that was and ahead at what we’d like for the year to come.
 
The three principles of Authentic Communication can guide your review of 2018 and your visioning for 2019. Here’s how:
 
BE
The foundation for all clear, consistent and effective communication is self-awareness. It’s also key to running your team or business.
 
Follow the advice of the brilliant coach, Isabel Parlett: Take an inventory of your activities for the year. Go through your calendar, your email, your balance sheet. Spend a morning making a comprehensive list of everything you accomplished in 2018.
 
Celebrating your achievements helps cultivate a non-judgmental understanding of yourself and your business and will energize you for 2019.
 
LISTEN
Good communication requires good listening. And a year-end review needs it, too.
 
Pull together a list of people you trust from your various audiences: customers, suppliers, partners, industry colleagues, team members and managers. Throw your net wide, and choose people who will give you honest feedback. Then ask for it.
 
Send out an email requesting frank answers to these questions:

• What do I (or we) do well – maybe better than anyone else you know?
• Where do I (or we) consistently slip up?
• Where do I (or we) fall short of what I say I am? (or we say we are?)

 
If that feels risky, it’s because it is. That’s why we start with getting solid in what went right.
 
Listening this way takes courage, and it’s worth it. It helps you identify the real gaps your 2019 business strategy needs to fill – the ones that affect the relationships your business is built on.
 
ACT
Grounded in self-awareness and insightful feedback, you’re ready to set your sights on 2019. It’s time for mindful action.
 
There are a variety of tools that can help with visioning for your business – like SMART Goals, OKRs and Golden Circle. One of my favorites is “Force Field Analysis.” It reveals the biggest barriers and strongest assets in the organization, and uncovers language that can pinpoint the specific actions needed for a year of success. 
 
Choose a tool that works for you and fully engage your team in deploying it. Create a safe container to call forward your team’s most innovative thinking. Then make clear, effective agreements about who will do what in the coming year.
 
Apply the principles of Authentic Communication – BE, LISTEN, ACT – to celebrate 2018, listen for your greatest opportunities, and prepare for a stellar 2019.
 
Want to share your experience or get more information? Please contact me. I’d be delighted to exchange ideas with you.
 
[A version of this post first appeared on the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce website.]