(E9) Is 2024 the year to get serious about your leadership?
When you get to the end of 2024 what do you want to be saying, thinking and feeling about the year that has been?
So often in January we all set our resolutions, maybe we have a word that will be our anchor for the year. And we can get to these resolutions or words based on how we feel in the here and now. We focus on ‘things’ to change, rather than outcomes (which is key to keeping us motivated). We don’t perhaps stress test to see if that thing will still be important to us after 12 months of work.
In this episode, I’m going to help you plan for 2024 to be your most impactful yet. I’m going to share the tools I use and the questions I ask of myself and my clients to help get clarity on what’s important.
We can’t even begin thinking about 2024 without taking some time to reflect on how things have gone in 2023. It’s a chance to ask ‘did I show up as the leader I wanted to be?’
Before I get too specific in my reflections, I like to ask myself some broader questions:
at the beginning of 2023 how did I feel about the year ahead and what was important to me as a leader?
what surprised me about last year?
did I achieve what I set out to do last year?
if yes, what contributed to that success?
if no, what got in the way?
when I felt I was leading well this year I was …
when I felt I wasn’t showing up as a leader I was …
I use these prompts / fill in the gap sentences to understand what felt good and what was a challenge for me, how the year panned out compared to what I had hoped or expected at the start.
I then get a bit more specific - I’m a bit of a data and metric nerd. I like to track things to see how it’s all going. So out comes all my data - some are specific measures I track aligned to my priorities, others are just interesting facts that show me if the things I’ve been spending time, attention and money on have been worth it.
I do this for my business, my collaborations and to some extent my personal life (I don’t have personal KPIs per se, but I’m always clear on the measures of success) - because all of these are important and impact on each other. And I know if I want to make a change in one area, that I need to see what it will mean for the others.
Once I’ve done all that, I then use my own SLC framework as a further lens to review and check-in, looking at my personal leadership strategy, my approach to self-leadership and my communications.
Was I clear in my personal leadership strategy?
I think in 2023, I got the clarity I’ve probably been searching for since I first started the business. I honed in on who I support and how I help leaders. This also meant that I was clearer in the support I needed - I stopped wasting money on courses I never completed and invested in experts who filled a genuine gap for me. Plus I finally started to pay for behind the scenes support, rather than trying to be a hero and do everything myself - this breakthrough came late in the year after I attended a business retreat. I realised that whilst I was uncomfortable spending money, the question I needed to answer was not can I afford it, but can I afford not to do this? And the honest answer was no, there were certain things in my business that were draining my time and energy and it meant I couldn’t focus on the most important elements of the business.
I felt even more comfortable shedding that corporate persona, but also recognised that I wasn’t a woo woman either and I didn’t need to be to be a good coach - so I stopped trying to lean into that and it felt freeing. I also lived my integrity value, stepping away from spaces and people who weren’t serving me well, but I still need to work on letting them take up too much ’air time’ in my head!
Did I lead myself well?
I think I did a solid 7 out 10 on this one. I’ve been better at setting and sticking to clear boundaries. I’ve really invested in my wellbeing and fitness and feel so much stronger for that. I’ve simplified my processes and utilised new systems, which links to my previous points about strategic support.
But I didn’t realise all my personal goals - I often found myself working or doing life admin on a Friday, instead of spending the time on personal projects which was my intent. I found time to read a lot, but spent way too much time in front of the TV and not enough doing craft-stuff that I enjoy. So that tells me that my priorities haven’t always been aligned.
And did I communicate and engage well this year?
Again, I’d give myself a 7 out of 10. Finding clarity in my leadership strategy allowed me to get rid of all the complicated ‘offers’ that I felt I had to be talking about all the time.
I spent way less time online - as a new business owner I fell into the trap of feeling like you had to be on socials 24/7 if you were going to be noticed. I remember at one point in 2022 I had been posting up to three times a day. It was exhausting and gave very little return. So my realisation in 2023 was I actually needed to communicate less, and try different things to connect with people who are likely to be most interested in the service I offer. I’d been feeling pretty guilty about taking a step back from the socials, but again - once I got clarity in my personal strategy and I had the right advisors supporting me, I realised it was a no-brainer. And it has been a game-changer this year.
2023 was the year I launched this podcast and my other podcast How to Take the Lead was shortlisted for a national award. Both of these shows have been really important to my development, has allowed me to explore topics relevant to my business, and continue to campaing and prove it’s possible to do leadership in a different way.
It’s only a 7 out of 10 though becuase I think I need to focus on consistency next year - particularly in my outreach, keeping in touch with people and my corporate newsletter production.
Once I’ve done all of that, I generally have a pretty good idea about what I therefore want to achieve for the coming year.
And so I ask myself a couple of questions to help me with that last bit of clarity.
how would I like to feel in 2024?
what’s important for me to remember this year?
what will I focus on in 2024?
if I’m making the impact I want, how will a typical day and week look like?
what might I need to change to make that happen?
I then put it all back through the lens of my SLC framework
what’s my leadership strategy?
how am I going to demonstrate self-leadership?
and what will that mean for how I communicate and engage?
For me, having got the clarity in 2023, my words for 2024 are persistency and consistency. That needs to be foundational in whatever I’m doing.
My strategy will mean talking to more CEOs and senior leaders about showing up with impact and what that might look and feel like to them. I’ve really enjoyed holding 1:1 strategy days with leaders and I want to do more of that. My collaboration through How to Take the Lead also included some paid client work and so I want to explore how else we can support organisations to tackle some of the leadership myths and stereotypes that are at play.
My self-leadership will be to continue on my health and wellbeing journey (I hate that word but can’t think of a better one). I’ve been pleased with the results I’ve seen this year and so I want to extend that feeling, and continue to get stronger and feel like I’ve got more energy … as a woman approaching a certain time in life, I know looking after myself is really important. I know that I can do more with boundaries, in particular when I work - and as important is to find ways to make sure I’m not always thinking about work stuff, which can be hard when you run your business from your home. I also need to prioritise time for my crafty pursuits - as I know that is a guarenateed brain-clearer for me.
My communications will continue to mean I’ll be on the socials less. Instead investing more time in the leaders with impact podcast and my newsletter for corporate leaders. I also want to do more with trade media and talk about leadership issues that matter. I think living my values will mean calling out the leadership BS I see even more. And I want to find the time to have proper conversations about things that matter.
Once I’ve got the clarity on the themes for 2024, if I can put a measure against it I will. I certainly put timescales, breaking things down by quarter so that I can make sure I’m being realistic, my activities are aligned and that I’m not overwhelming myself by wanting to achieve so much straight away.
Having a plan gives me that reality check, that accountability and thatmarker that I can show me progress - which for me is a motivator.
You might not need to be that granular, but when it comes to showing up as an organisational leader if you lack clarity it can really affect the impact you have.
I hope these prompts have been useful. You might want to mull over them for a few days and revisit … I always find moving to a different space helps get different thinking.
I’m looking forward to seeing what impact you can make in 2024.
Resources and helpful links
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If you’ve listened to this episode and decided that 2024 is the year you’re going to get serious about your leadership then my one-day intensive is a great starting point. This is a full day, just you and me, unpacking and reconstructing what you want to achieve as a leader. It’s the perfect way to kick start your year and you’ll come away with clarity and a plan of action. Book a free consultation call here.
