Episode #509: How Are The New Year Resolutions Coming Along

Leadership requires discipline and accountability. We claim to know more than the team about the strategy and direction we need to take. Are we being honest with ourselves though? We probably made some New Year Resolutions in January and here we are one quarter into the new calendar year and how are we looking on those commitments? I see the influx of overweight executives booking up the personal trainers down at my private club gym every January. They clearly are okay to spend the money, because both the club and these trainers are not cheap. These newbies are usually obese and are clearly interested in doing something about their weight to improve their health and performance. Six weeks later they have quietly vanished.

I wonder what sort of corporate leaders they are, if they cannot maintain the discipline and commitment to take care of the most precious thing in their lives – their own health? Are they credible with their teams? Maybe I am wrong, but I doubt they can be a genius of organisation, consistency, reliability and delivered outcomes at work, if they can’t keep going with their own health improvement programme. Maybe I am totally wrong and they are sacrificing their liver for the enterprise with extensive boozy dinners and long lunches to win business? That could well be true, but it doesn’t seem sustainable does it?

If those January resolutions have been dumped, we can ask the question, “why don’t we keep the promises we make to ourselves?”. The biggest problem in business is responding to change. We face changes in technology, the market, currency rates, supply chain, the recruiting environment, etc. Somehow, we are supposed to be agile, nimble, adaptable in business, but are we up to the task? If we cannot change our lifestyle to trigger the corrections we need to solve our weight problem or any of the other things we need to get done, then are we really able to handle change?

Don’t get me wrong. Everyone I meet loves change. They tell me. They want the organisation to change, their boss to change, their staff to change, their colleagues to change. For themselves though, they have very little interest in making any changes and prefer to keep doing what they have always done. If the leader has this mentality regarding the personal things of most importance to themselves - their health - what are the odds they are going to be able to handle the needed changes in the business?

A big part of securing personal change is to have a coach. Okay, the personal gym coaches are like new puppies in Japan at new year – six weeks later the pet owners are looking to hand them back, because they cannot handle the changes needed to look after the pups. The gym coach gets the axe too, because the changes they are recommending for the executive are beyond their ability to sustain and they give up. The idea itself is actually very good.

Having a mentor or a coach in business is a mechanism of accountability, an objective measuring device to be run over us, to make sure we are tracking to get where we want to go. That is helpful, but we still have personal accountability for ourselves and one of the areas where we let ourselves down is time management and personal organisation. I am always astounded by the number of executives who are ruled by the “muse” rather than by the compass and the clock. They don’t set goals, don’t set priorities, don’t work through tasks according to those priorities. When you ask them why, they say cool stuff like “I don’t want to crimp my creativity”, “I need to be flexible”, “I am a free spirit” and “a set list of priorities won’t survive beyond 10.00am in our business”.

We can see they are intelligent people and very good at justifying their lack of control over their days. This is why they cannot change their lifestyle around eating, drinking and exercising. This is also why the new year resolutions go up in smoke every year, as these executives inch closer to that stroke or heart attack awaiting them, if they don’t make some major changes in their lifestyles.

If they cannot sustain the changes needed for their own longevity, should they be in charge of the corporate tiller? Should they be the one setting the path forward? Are they credible with their team and able to have people put in the effort needed for the organisation to succeed? Are they well organised to do the follow-up to make sure what they think is happening, is in fact taking place?

Okay, obese people are easy to spot. What about all the slim people who are also equally challenged to do what they say needs to be done? What about when they drop their resolutions like a hot potato? Can we entrust the organisation in their hands?

How have you fared this first quarter? Are you on track to reach your resolution goals? Are you better organised than last year? Do you have an iron grip on both the compass and the clock and are the one dictating the action, rather than the other way around? If you are not on track, what are you going to do about it – waiting until January next year to try again?

There is still time to re-group. Do some hard thinking about why you are struggling and what needs to change to fix this situation. One thing for sure is the time will pass one way or another, regardless of what we do. Why not get in control of your future and live a life of intention, rather than one of reaction. Only you can make it happen. Start small and add things as you succeed. Expect it is going to be hard, painful, disappointingly slow and relentless. When you do that, you won’t be surprised by the difficulties and will be ready for the onslaught. If we tripped up in the first quarter, let’s make the second quarter our start to the year and keep pushing ourselves. None of the alternatives look good for a leader.