What if a year from now this was your 2024 “lookback”:

What an amazing year! In 2024 we were able to effectively leverage Purpose, Culture, Creativity and Clarity to build a team of intrinsically motivated people and craft a strategy which resulted in exceeding 2024 goals and identifying clear next steps for 2025. We now have the glue to stick together and the grease to move quickly to the next stage of growth.

Ok, but what is the first step to get there?

STOP…

Before you send another “email to the team”.

Before you schedule that staff meeting or “townhall”.

Before you book that key customer call.

Before you pack up for that next tradeshow.

Before you have a meeting with the reps.

Before you create another key account discount or allowance.

Before you have that next line review.

Before you stick post-it notes on the product brainstorming white board.

Before you cut that next expense from the budget.

Our path to success is one which requires us to resist the gravitational pull of reactionary tactics and instead examine whether we really have the right internal approach to grow our business.

If we know that we are going to need an outstanding performance and collaboration from our teams then why don’t we start with fortifying that foundation first?

Consider a 20 hour (2 and ½ days) investment on the part of your management team right now.

It looks like this:

4 Hours: Can we commit to Our Why? Do we believe it and is it relevant today?

4 Hours: What are the behavioral norms of our company Culture, or what do we want them to be? Is Trust one of them? Vulnerability? Empathy? Are “busy” and “swamped” our standards?

4 Hours: Do we fully understand the role of Creativity across the entire company as a driver in solving problems and generating new ideas of value? Not just PD and Marketing teams.

4 Hours: Do we have, or are we able to create mutual expectations, transparent communication, and a clear sense of priorities across the company? Do we believe that we can have greater impact if we focus on fewer, and the right, initiatives?

4 Hours: Lets weave this all together and build a foundation for our business planning which becomes both the glue and the grease for collaboration and execution.

In times when we know that our success is dependent upon “all of us working together”, 20 hours doesn’t seem like too much to invest in getting this right and building a foundation for effective collaboration.