Where Are You on Setting Your Goals for 2024?

In this NEW YEAR, you most likely know your current achievements. You also know that regardless of those, you can improve upon them in many ways.  

It might be January already, but you are not too late to define your business goals or establish a timeline for meeting any of them. Many of us create New Year’s resolutions. Often, we decide to: 

• Work out to become healthier.
• Ensure our affairs are in order. 
• Stay focused on what’s important for stability. 

In short, you know what you want to achieve and you resolve to achieve it. But can these apply to organizations too?  As an organization, and an employee, let’s consider these key questions and determine where we stand. They are either a yes or a no, so answering them should not take long — either you have it, or you don’t: 

1.  Work out to become healthier (as an organization). 

Being a health-conscious company requires an understanding of your operational costs, management of talent, and customer satisfaction. In assessing your ability to meet this goal, HAVE YOU…? 

• Determined your key revenue streams for your business? (Yes or No) ­­____

Your goods and/or services define who you are and where you shine. As a result, putting a focus on what you do well will enable you to shine, but also be fit. While we all want to be great at everything, we cannot boil the ocean. Thus, define your best traits, what you do well, ensure your brand shows this, and focus there. Focus on what you do best and determine how you will derive revenue and income.

• Determined how to reduce operational costs without losing key talent or detracting from what you do best? (Yes or No)  ___

Once you define those key elements of strength — that is, what you do well — you will want to do them with such vigor, pomp, and circumstance, that it is amazing — but that can be costly. Sharing your awesomeness and fantasticness with the world is important. However, the costs associated with it can also be, well, costly. Consider the callout of your services, and the return from those efforts. Finding leads in this day and age — considering the various social media options, and the size of the market segments for each media — can be daunting. Pause, and take a moment to know what has worked well for you in the past, and determine how you can leverage the same best practices in a different geographical setting, same market group, and in other aspects of your business. The key is to pause and understand your best practices, feats, and opportunities for growth. 

• Determined whether your team members will ride with you on the journey? (Yes or No) ____

Let’s face it, we can never achieve greatness alone. It requires a team. It requires a team that understands the goals, believes in the vision, and has the wherewithal to move forward both in times of greatness and in times of trouble. Do you have faith in your team members? Have you discussed this with your team? Have you addressed areas of willingness, motivation, understanding, and capability? If not, it is not too late to have constructive and transparent conversations of the 2024 vision and how to move forward this year. 

• Determined how you might serve your clients (customers)/employees/partners in a more superior manner in 2024? (Yes or No) ___

The year 2024 will be the year of relationship management. Whether it is our clients, our employees, or our partners, we should look at this time as an opportunity to serve humanity. This means supporting our clients/customers to the best of our abilities, enabling our employees to perform and be transparent about the expectations, and truly collaborating with our partners and focusing on the best way to achieve success. We succeed when, as Zig Ziglar stated, we help others succeed. 

2. Ensure our affairs are in order. 

Knowing what is happening in every aspect of the organization is critical. While we cannot be in every single place at once, it is critical to understand the key metrics that determine whether what we have decided to do is being managed in a way that ensures sustainability for 2024 and beyond. In meeting this goal, HAVE YOU…? 

• Determined and hired the right talent to support your needs? (Yes or No) ____

Having the right talent includes support for the current role and future opportunities. It is critical to hire for “the now.” However, it is imperative to hire for the future too. Ensure a hire for potential as you think about your mission, vision, and growth.

• Determined the appropriate headcount size for your organization? (Yes or No) ____

Talent can be the best (and most expensive) investment you make. Take a moment to ensure that your talent: 

• Aligns with your focus. 
  • Understands what it takes for financial success, their role in it, and how they will be rewarded.
  • Understands their current role and opportunities for the future. 
  • Has the skills and abilities to succeed.

In short, know those who are working for you, treat them as you would appreciate being treated, and ensure they are set up for success.

3. Stay focused on what’s important for stability.   

Your leadership, communication, and presence should represent stability. Further, it sets the tone for movement, improvement, and change. When your team has faith and understanding in what the organization is trying to achieve, they will stay. Further, when there is an understanding that you are working well to ensure a healthy work environment and that you are working to ensure the affairs are in order, they will stay. You as a leader bring stability. THANK YOU! With that in mind, and in meeting this goal, HAVE YOU…? 

• Shared your goals as a leader for 2024 with your team? (Yes or No) ___ 

Transparency is critical to employees, your peers, and — if you are not the boss — your manager. Where do you stand? How will you enable success for the company, your clients/customers, and your employees? You have an answer. Share it now. 

• Had a discussion on critical areas of focus moving forward? (Yes or No) ___

Providing direction is critical. Ensure your team members understand the direction, their role in moving forward, expectations for success, and the potential rewards.  

• Celebrated wins — either privately or publicly? (Yes or No) ___

Celebrating wins, acknowledging failures, supporting collaborative efforts, and discussing these events help move us forward. As a leader, your employees look to you for an understanding of all of these measures. They are lessons for learning and an opportunity for understanding the goals going forward. So, where are YOU in meeting your goals for 2024? You are on your way. If you answered no to any of the questions, we can discuss how we get you to yes! There is great opportunity for you as long as you focus on your health, your affairs, and your stability. Let’s win together! Click this link to chat!