Nostalgia is a trickster. It’ll tell you how much better things used to be, easier, all sunshine and four-leaf clovers. It’ll say it’ll be better when everything goes back to how it used to be.
Nostalgia is wrong.
We can’t go back. There will never be going back. We physically can’t, unless you’ve been hiding a time machine in your garage. (If you have, let me know. I have a proposition.)
More than the physical inability to go back to how things used to be, you aren’t the same you from then. Look at everything we’ve navigated and endured. There have been some hard lessons and vital pivots. We’ve talked to people that have been launched out of the career they thought they were going to have and companies that had to drag their teams through a steep learning curve.
It’s easy for many of us to feel like we’ve barely made it. Afterall, we haven’t crossed the finish line for the year just yet. Every day there seems to be another layer to the chaos added. I’m pretty sure at least half the people that will read this have been holding their breath in one way or another since at least April.
Let’s not take stock in what we’ve done to survive the turbulence, but acknowledge what we’ve accomplished in spite of it. Most importantly, let’s prepare to keep marching forward!
How do you keep winning forward?
Don’t settle for “Good.” Anything less than great isn’t going to help your organization recover from 2020. Boom or bust, it’s been stressful as the markets have thrashed all over the place. Give your employees the opportunity to rise to the occasion, even if they aren’t sure they can.
Don’t relax yet. Your people are tired, but breaks are hard to come by. Hopefully they’ll be able to recharge through the holidays because you need them ready to hit the ground running in January. That first quarter will set the tone for the rest of the year. Be ready to cascade your strategic plans down through the whole company as soon as possible after the first of the year.
Don’t fear the unknown. Covid taught us that some mad pivots can’t be forecast. That’s a lesson we can take to heart without letting it paralyze anyone’s efforts. Cascade the plan. Set the Focus Areas. Develop those goals. And most importantly: Execute!
Do prepare to pivot. Again, we learn from the lessons of 2020. Those Focus Areas and goals may change for some (or all) individuals in your organization throughout the course of the coming year. Don’t set it and forget it. Managers should meet with their team members at least quarterly to review progress updates on all goals. Those dedicated opportunities to connect and adapt are invaluable.
Do give yourself quality tools. My grandpa used to say that half of doing a good job was having the right tools for it. Without them, things can get… messy. Time is wasted. Resources are down the drain. You deserve to have what you need to make your life easier and give your workforce the best chances for success. Remember that tools are more than gadgets and gizmos we give the employees to do a job. The mind is the most valuable of all tools. You have talented employees right now with a mind for coaching. Sharpen those tools.
Do start (or keep) coaching. Even if you don’t specifically use Catalytic Coaching, your employees will be more productive, engaged, and invested through coaching. Get a system in place that will help you guide your performance management in a way that communicates what you need from them, empowers them to own their accomplishments, increases overall capabilities, and tracks all of it throughout the process.
Companies that coach need a dedicated Coach2 (or two). They are the people you’ll rely on that can teach your managers how to coach their teams, support cascading strategic initiatives, and help implement the Catalytic Coaching process and keep it refreshed. These highly trained professionals earn their certification through the Mastery Program developed by Gary Markle.
