New Years Resolutions in Leadership

New Year’s resolution #1…Break new ground!
I got a call the other day from a gentleman in NY wondering how he could get a copy of my book – asap! He had made a new years resolution to jump start his career – and decided my book would help him do just that! So I asked him where he wanted to start first and he replied ‘New year -- new beginnings”…I want to try something different – break new ground.

Great goal for 2010!... Because I think if you start to feel really qualified at what you’re doing – then you’re not stepping out of your ‘comfort zone’ enough. If you’ve made a decision to shift gears in 2010 – here are some quick survival tips to help you break new ground:

1. First - Don’t be afraid to ask for direction! When you try new things or test new skills, you are going to need guidance from people who have been down the path before…make sure you ask for it!
2. Next - Enjoy the ‘rookie’ phase while it lasts – You usually get some immunity when you try new things – so make sure you get those inevitable mistakes out of the way fast!

Once you start challenging your limits and stepping into new territory – you’ll start experiencing some great benefits too. Growth, experience, learning, living – your world will change…and hey that’s what it’s all about.



New Year’s resolution #2…Stay Connected to your front lines!
A little while ago I was in New York City visiting a friend of mine. During my stay he took me down to the Virgin Records Megastore in Union Square to grab some ‘chill’ or ‘lounge’ music that I was having a hard time finding here in Canada – we walked into this 5 story massive maze of millions of CDs, DVDs and every kind of music accessory you could imagine! Well, I must have looked overwhelmed because one of the sales clerks came up to me with a big grin on his face to see if he could point me in the right direction. An hour later I left the mega-store armed with -- not with one -- but 6 other ‘chill’ CD’s – as luck would have it, it seems I had run into the sales clerk who just happened to be a ‘chill music’ expert. As it happens, this sales clerk wasn’t a sales clerk at all – he was a music producer who had in fact been responsible for getting the group aqua [you might remember the song ‘Barbie girl’] – to North America!

He used this part-time job to keep connected to the front lines of his business – intelligence gathering on what people were buying, at what price point etc -- to help drive his business strategy.

Who is your customer? What are you doing to keep connected to the front lines, to keep your team’s finger on the pulse? Adopting this simple leadership strategy might just set you and your team up for some real success in 2010!