Last week one of my colleagues and I met for the sole purpose of setting time aside to think strategically about our businesses, to set goals and priorities, to share best practices.  I’m in NC, they’re in the Northeast, we met in DC.  And we did this, made the effort in the midst of very busy schedules, to truly create 2017 rather than having it shape itself.

Are you doing the same?  Making the space and place to think strategically?  Have you gotten off site with your team, set time aside to take an aerial view of your business and your priorities for 2017?  To think broader and bigger than you have before?  To push the envelope of what’s possible?

Once you do, there are three key factors for making goals become reality:

A clear, compelling vision that engages and enthralls you.  Really.  You can grind it out, yes, but you’ll have much smoother, sustainable sailing if you know the meaning behind your motion.  Maybe you want to make your organization its competitive best, as a senior executive once told me with terrific pride.  Maybe you derive satisfaction from leaving a legacy of leadership.  Whatever your goals are, get underneath them, to the meaning.

Reasonable action. When and how will you achieve your priorities?  Are there things that must come off  your plate to make room for those most important?  Think big, detail small.  How, exactly, will you break the inertia of the present for your vision of the future?  If you could find an hour each day, what would be its best use?

Support.  You’ll stumble, things will not quite go as planned.  There will be times that are rough and frustrating and might even seem insurmountable.  Having a confidential space to let down your guard so that you can then get back up off the mat is essential.  Acknowledge, assess, and then move forward.

There are eleven months remaining in 2017.

Are you clear on how you want to spend them?

For more on working with me directly to set priority and direction for yourself and/or your team and organization:
sarah@sarah-levitt.com

I’m honored to have been invited to speak for the third year in a row at the Alan Weiss Mentor Summit for global consultants.  To book me to speak at your leadership summit, sales meeting, or corporate event: sarah@sarah-levitt.com