Last week was about choosing our one word or phrase to set our north star for the year.  This week is about examining our habits and processes to see if they could lead to our north star.  This entry is inspired by the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. 

If I’m going to EMBRACE this year, I also need to EMBRACE the right habits and processes to get the results I’m looking for.  For example, if I’m going to be healthier this year I need to look at my habits and processes as they relate to nutrition.  If I continue doing exactly what I’m doing now will I be healthier in 2021?  The answer is no.  Since that is the case, what is the disconnect, the root cause of potential failure?  What change will you need to make to be successful?  After reflecting I realized it’s too easy for me to make unhealthy food choices if I haven’t meal prepped ahead of time.  This year I’m making meal prep one of my focuses.  By changing that one process, I’m not eating better and making fewer poor choices. 

How does this apply to work?  We could all benefit from taking some time to reflect on our habits and processes.  In the above example, I applied this to overall health.  We can apply this thinking to softer skills too.  When is the last time you stopped to truly reflect and analyze the habits and processes that make up your leadership skills?  If you continued doing everything you are currently doing would you become the type of leader you want to be in 2021?  If no, why not?  What is the root cause?  Why aren’t you becoming the leader you want to be?  What change will you need to make to become this leader? 

Last year I did some reflection and realized that if I wanted to be a better leader, especially in my role in the Alliance, I needed to do a better job of casting a vision and how we will get there.  I called this “laying the tracks” and that became my phrase for 2020.  I overinvested time in making sure I was slowing down to identify/communicate a clear vision, lay out the right milestones, and bring the right people in along the way.  This took A LOT more effort than I was used to, especially because I had to navigate across the two companies.  However, this effort paid off ten-fold when things went smoother than they had the year before.  I’m still not perfect, but I am so much improved, because I took the time to analyze my leadership skills and identified ways to get better.

The challenge: Will you reflect on your habits and processes to reach your north star?  How will your habits and behaviors need to evolve for you to become the leader you want to be?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry