A wish for 2018

Wondering what to wish my followers for 2018, I reflected on what struck me most in 2017 which can be improved in 2018. Something that has an impact on people’s happiness and their performance in business. That something happened to be the uncertainty regarding the future of business. With a world in turmoil (as ever!), significantly changing buying behaviours by business people, fake news and volatile politicians one asks oneself, what’s next and how will it affect the business. There are no crystal balls to predict what’s next, but we can prepare and influence what is to come. Especially when you are the leader of the business.

What you need for this is some of the following:

Inspire the people around you. It’s easy to manage by KPI’s. They give you concrete and objective feedback. But they also distract you from looking at the human part of leading people: managing behaviour, holding people accountable and creating a positive workplace to work in.

Build, stimulate and maintain an environment where people take initiative, bring valuable ideas to you, which enhance business growth, motivation and the feeling of involvement.

Raise expectations. If you make your expectations to clear to people, you can hold them also accountable for doing the right things. How often don’t we hear about managers not being clear enough about what they expect from their people and what they don’t. The result is miscommunication, unnecessary mistakes, loss of productivity and frustration.

Have a healthy balance between empathy and courage. Empathy to understand why people act the way they do and courage to act in difficult situations. Not taking a decision or procrastinating because you don’t dare, can be killing. The problem won’t go away. It usually gets worse! When you act in a balanced way, even in difficult situations you get people to understand you much better and support your decisions.

Self-reflect at least once a day. Reflecting helps you to think about how your thoughts are regarding different situations you were in and what you could have done to get a better or different result. It also helps you to learn from successes and failures and improve for the next time.

Saying “Sorry”. We all make mistakes. We all sometimes act stupid. Don’t wait until you get yourself into trouble. If you have made a mistake or done something stupid, don’t hesitate to say sorry. It will earn you a lot of respect from the people around you. It will also make you feel good.

And last but surely not least: when you achieve the above mentioned, you retain your best people, attract the best candidates for your vacancies and boost motivation and achieve the success you need for the organization.

So why am I telling you this? Because with a happier and successful team, you as a business leader can achieve the best for the organization you lead, and it helps you go to work every day with a feeling that you are part of a winning team.

Want to know more how create such a place to work? Contact me at robert@peterson-company.com or follow me on LinkedIn.

I invite you to visit our Websites: www.peterson-company.com , www.peterson-company.nl , www.salesprofessional.eu www.robertpeterson.eu .