351 | How To Finish This Year Strong

Holiday’s are approaching and our goals we set back in January are sneaking up on us.

Today, I will be talking about how to confidently finish the year off strong, accomplishing the goals you wanted and not getting overwhelmed.

Ask yourself the right questions, ask your team the right questions and be ready to finish the year off well.

 

 

For full transcript continue reading:

Chris LoCurto:

How to finish this year strong and inspire your team to do the same. More on that coming up next.

Welcome to the Chris LoCurto show where we discuss leadership and life and discover that business is what you do, not who you are.

Welcome to the show, folks. Well, it is that time of year and it can happen to the best of us every year. Holidays get busy. Uh, people are out of the office. Uh, those leadership goals you set in January, which for a lot of people, those aren’t goals. They’re actual dreams because we don’t put anything to them. Uh, they may be limping towards the finish line if we’re, if we’re trying to accomplish them or maybe you’re feeling a bit of burnout, maybe you’re getting towards the end of the year and you’re stressing, you’re struggling, you know, you’ve got so much to do. Uh, it could even be that a, you’re experiencing more stress as the year starts to close out. Uh, for some of us that have, uh, multiple businesses, uh, the end of the year is a stressful time because of closing out businesses. So maybe that’s where you are right now. You may hear that and think, well that’s me.

Or maybe you’ve decided that you’re not in the the end of the year overwhelmed camp. Either way. Here’s how to know. Ask yourself some questions. First thing, are you still focused on the goals you set in January? So if you set yearly goals and they’re supposed to be done by the end of the year, how are you doing? Have you been setting initiatives that you can do every 90 days? Have you been focusing heavily on accomplishing all the things that you set down to get done this year? For us, we don’t necessarily set them in January. We set them with our own internal strat plans that we do, but for a lot of folks, they set them, they run them down at the end of the year and start moving on them in January. So my question is, is your team still focused on them? There’s things that you want to do accomplish this year. How are you doing? Do you know everyone’s time off for the rest of the year?

Are you confident that you have plenty of time in office to keep the original deadlines? Are you clear on project timelines and how they’ll be completed with excellence before the year end? Is your team, do they know the timelines? Are they focused on the things that they’ve got to get done to get these things done by the end of the year? Are you falling into the trap of the leadership crazy cycle? Now we talk about this a lot. It’s the, it’s the number one lesson that we have. All of the folks in our Next Level Mastermind group or our Key Leaders Program go through for a reason. Until you get out of the leadership crazy cycle. It’s really ridiculous trying to focus on pretty much anything else. Um, because you’re not giving it the greatest effort. You are bogged down, you’re losing out on time. Uh, and what that leadership crazy cycle is, is being overwhelmed.

It’s doing so many tasks and, and keeping them on. I’m talking about the leaders here. So many of you have team members that you pay to do a bunch of tasks. But as a leader, for me, your number one job is to lead people to success, not to have your day completely bogged down with tasks. So if you are, if you’re stuck in that, if you are overwhelmed, if you’re feeling like, uh, you’re getting to the end of the year and you haven’t accomplished all the great things that you wanted to accomplish this year, if you are like, man, I cannot wait for the holidays just so I can have some downtime. You know, if you get to the end of your day and somebody says, Hey, what’d you do today? And you’re like, I really don’t know. I know I did a ton, then you’re probably stuck in the leadership crazy cycle.

If you have a bunch of stuff on your plate that you’re doing that at the pay rate that you’re being paid should be done by somebody else, you’re probably stuck in the leadership crazy cycle. Oh, I’m starting to sound like Jeff Foxworthy if, if you have too many tasks on your plate and that’s, that’s my best Jeff Foxworthy right there. So if you said yes to any of the above, then guess what? It’s worth taking a look at your leadership and committing to finishing this year strong. But before we get deeper into today’s content, I want to talk about leadership folks. Leadership takes commitment and perseverance. It isn’t for anyone who is quick to quit. As leaders, we get overwhelmed by being stuck in tasks and all the things on our plate and we spend way too much time putting out fires. But here’s the truth. If we want to be great leaders, we can’t stay there.

Real leaders understand that staying stuck and overwhelmed will never get us the results that we desire to have great results, we have to become great leaders. Great leaders have the freedom to lead. They never stop learning. They strive to become expert communicators and the unified people to accomplish significant goals in three days. Get the tools that you need to see the leadership results you want at our fifth annual Next Level Leadership Live Event. Become a leader that isn’t chained to your desk. Lead with excellence and unify your team around the mission. Get your best leadership results by becoming a great leader. Learn more about the 2020 Next Level Leadership Live Event at chrislocurto.com/liveevents or text live event as one word- to the number 44222 again, that’s chrislocurto.com/liveevents or text, liveevent as one word to the number 44222 now we’re going to look at the action steps to take to finishing this year strong.

First you have to lead yourself. Then you can lead your team to do the same. It’s common. Normally what we do is we go directly to, well, I’ve got to push my team. I’ve got to get them going. I’ve got to get them focused on these things. If you’re not leading yourself well, then guess what? How in the world are you going to lead them to do a great job? Right? So the first thing you’ve got to focus on is closing out your goals. What are the goals that you set? Now, if your goals are written on a piece of paper in your top drawer, pull those things out. Blow the dust off of it cause I know it’s been in there since January and take a hard look at all the things that you wanted to accomplish this year. What can we do? What can we get done?

What projects need a big push? What are the things that we still can’t accomplish before the year end? Take a hard look at those things and start asking questions like, what does it take to accomplish this goal? Is this still a top priority? That’s probably where I want you to start first is actually prioritize the goals that you still want to get done by the year end and ask the question, what does it take to get this done? What kind of push do we need to do? What does the team need to be successful? What kind of encouragement do I need to do to get them moving on this stuff? What are the things that we need to do that we can get this thing accomplished? Do we have the time? Do we have the resources to accomplish this goal? So take a hard look, prioritize all the things that you still need to accomplish by year end, and then start asking the questions to gain perspective, what is needed to get this done.

Now you may have gone even further, uh, and actually put these things into a project. You may have built the project out, you may have the details to get the thing done and it’s still not getting done. So my question to you then is, why not, um, have you, do you have a good system that should actually hold people accountable to doing the processes? Do you have a good system that holds people accountable to actually getting the goals done? Close out the goals by the end of the year? Number two, be intentional with the schedule or the calendar. Make sure that you’re focusing heavily on what time is left in the year. Uh, we just finished up a Strat Plan last week. We’re going into another one next week. And one of the things we always do towards this time of the year is make sure that as we’re setting all of these phenomenal goals for them to do for the next six to nine months that we take into account the Thanksgiving, Christmas time, you know, time off all the stuff that people are doing towards the end of the year.

If you’re closing out the business, whatever it is. So take a hard look at what time frames you have left, right, of your team members that they can get these things done. Plus also take into account what they’re already working on, right? What are the things that they still need to do if they’re focusing on things that aren’t as important as closing out those big goals, then ask the question, why is it possible that you have team members that are task saturated with stuff that they shouldn’t be doing? It would not be a surprise if a leader stuck in the leadership crazy cycle. Has other leaders stuck in the leadership crazy cycle or has team members that are test saturated? So take a hard look at the time, left the time available for the rest of the year that you have for your team members and ask the question what can be accomplished?

Also, take a hard look at the project timelines. So again, by priority, what are the things that we need to get done? What’s holding stuff back? What’s holding is is a team member waiting on another team member is a leader waiting on teams? What are the things that are holding up those project timelines? So take a hard look at that calendar and ask the question, do we have the capacity? Do we have the resources? Can we get this done in this time frame? Or do we need to start moving things around, right? You might have folks that are again, focusing on things that they shouldn’t be or it’s not as important as the specific goal. So move that, make the adjustments, get them focused on it. Number three, coach your team. So folks, as you’re closing out your goals, as you’re taking a look at these things from your level, make sure that you sit down with your team and focus on intentionally teaching them how to close out their goals.

They have goals as well. They should, should have stuff that you’ve actually, for me, I go through my team and I ask them to give me goals on top of the things that we are accomplishing that they want to accomplish for the next year. So go through and discover what are those things that need to be closed out. Be intentional with their calendars. Be intentional on teaching them how to close out their goals, on teaching them how to prioritize, on teaching them the things that they need to get done in the things that they may be working on that aren’t as important as those goals. So make sure that you get in there and coach them on this stuff. So many times as leaders, people just expect that their team does it right, that they do it incredibly well. So my question to you is, if you’re in this place, which is probably most of the people listening to this right now, if you’re in this place, then why are you surprised that your team is struggling to close out goals?

So get in there, help them, teach them, coach them, show them how to show them how to prioritize. Show them how to push to get things done with the timeframes that they had. Also make sure that you’re adding accountability where needed. So as you’ve heard me say here before, the two top things that every business struggles with, and I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and I have yet to find a single company who does not struggle with these two things. The number one thing is a lack of high quality communication. The number two thing is a lack of quality accountability. So you’ve got to take a look at where are you lacking accountability, right? Where in your team are you not pushing people to get things done and holding them accountable to doing the right stuff? Where do you not have accountability on prioritization?

Where do you not have accountability on, uh, are they actually focusing on timelines and you know, making sure that they’re doing everything that they can to accomplish that goal? Where are you making sure that they’re hitting their care race? All of those pieces of accountability that needs to be in place to make sure that you’re accomplishing the things that you want to do. If you don’t have the accountability, ask yourself the question why? What does it going to take to get that accountability in place? Then make sure after you’ve done all of this to recast the vision to your team. This is the reason why we are going after this goal. This is the reason why we are closing this out. This is the reason why we have such a heavy emphasis. This is how this is gonna affect the business. How it’s gonna affect our clients, how it’s gonna affect you as a team member.

Do all the things that you can to help them to see this is the direction we’re going in. They need to be able to see why you’re moving in that direction. They need to be able to see what you’re trying to accomplish. They need to be able to see why it’s important. So as you’re teaching them, make sure that you’re recasting the vision as to why all of this is important. Next Level Life is our two day personal discovery experience. It’s a one on one personalized event where we guide you through a process to help you discover your root system, to get unstuck in life and to discover what’s holding you back from freedom and peace. Imagine this, what if you could wake up every morning with a clear purpose? What would it look like to have healthier relationships with less conflict? Where would you be in a few months, a year, five years if you had clarity, purpose, and peace?

Probably a big difference from where you stand today. Now I know it’s possible because I’ve been where you are. Asking myself, is there more? There is and there is a better way and it starts with Next Level Life. You can go to chrislocurto.com/discover to take the next step. Now. If you’re struggling with this contentment, regret, or not feeling good enough, which most of you are, if you’re filled with anxiety or your relationships are lacking, don’t keep going through the same motions every single day. Learn how to move past the things, robbing you of peace. Go to chrislocurto.com/discover and take the next step. Folks, finish this year strong. Don’t let those fantastic goals you set fall by the wayside. Don’t Slack in leading and inspiring your team. Give yourself and your team the satisfaction of closing out this year strong. Well, hopefully this has helped you today. Thank you for joining me. I hope it has served you well. I encourage you to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help more people join our community and as always, take this information, change your leadership, change your business, change your life, and join us on the next episode.

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Meet Chris LoCurto

CEO

Chris has a heart for changing lives by helping people discover the life and business they really want.

Decades of personal and leadership development experience, as well as running multi-million dollar businesses, has made him an expert in life and business coaching. personality types, and communication styles.

Growing up in a small logging town near Lake Tahoe, California, Chris learned a strong work ethic at home from his full-time working mom. He began his leadership and training career in the corporate world, starting but at E'TRADE.