How do I create momentum in 2023?
Will 2023 be known for leaders as the year long battle for creating, and maintaining, momentum?
Over the break, and since returning to the ‘desk’, I’ve been thinking about what challenges leaders and businesses could face in 2023. Fair to say, this list was long, exhaustive and lacked a sense of relevance if I’m honest.
So, I reframed my thinking and looked at how a simple boat can struggle to get up on the plane when it first starts its journey. Mechanically and structurally it can be sound and well maintained, but there is still a certain level of force that is required to get it running on top of the water smoothly. It is, in part, due to a certain level of momentum.
So what?
After the general malaise of 2022 and challenges that are continuing to affect businesses and leaders, it’s not surprising that how businesses and teams start up this year will be very different to past years. Naturally people will start the year with their own views of success or change, maybe they are entering the year a bit cautious and a bit more reserved due to the economic environment. Meanwhile leaders will be trying to grasp/ focus on how to support their people with these resolutions or goals, whilst trying to keep the business on track.
At the end of 2022 a few people I spoke to thought the start to 2023 might be akin to the story of Sisyphos. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus (or Sisyphos) was the founder and king of Ephyra. He was punished for cheating death and was forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill (end of 2022) only for it to roll down every time it neared the top (starting up again in 2023), repeating this action for eternity (the first half of the calendar year…).
All those great initiatives and ideas from 2022 need to be restarted, the gears of culture need to be greased up again and the clunky start up process of change will need to take time and diligence.
So what to do?
In John C Maxwell’s book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” Rule number 16 is titled ‘The Law of the Big Mo’. Leaders can have all the energy, passion, tools, frameworks, clients and people to fulfil the vision for 2023 and beyond - however, if they can't get it moving and in the right direction, they are just pushing an enormous bow wave going slowly and expending a lot of precious energy doing so. Meanwhile team members, or clients, are wondering why it's not smooth sailing from the start and our reaction speeds are delayed.
In the book, a key part of harnessing the Big Mo, as Maxwell calls it, is tapping into motivation. Leaders can do this by:
Taking responsibility and being passionate about the vision and what can be achieved.
Remove any barriers or demotivating elements within the organisation.
Schedule in elements, events, milestones in the very near future to narrow the focus and create the first glimpse of moving forward and achievement.
Once there is a general sense that we can feel the boat lifting out of the water, leaders need to encourage and reward those putting the most effort in. Make it a regular occurance and praise the extra 1% people are putting in to make the boat go faster and smoother.
I also align with the view of John Kotter when he created Kotter's 8 steps to effective change. Pure and simple: Create a sense of urgency
Not a leader or manager?
What if I’m not a ‘leader’ or ‘manager’? Well, the fact you are reading to develop yourself indicates that you are a highly capable contributing team member. A quote that solidifies your position is “A leader who has no respected followers, is just going for a long walk alone”. So how can you help the team or your one up manager create momentum early in 2023?
Ask the question. How can I bring something extra to help the collective instead of my own work stream? And does it play into our long term vision?
What wins could I get underway early to start off the year with a sense of urgency and achievement?
Forecast your workload and priorities well in advance and communicate clearly.
Remember, a year is a long time. Pacing is key - understand when you have hit your reserve tank and need to slow down or delegate pieces of work.
If my manager/boss left tomorrow, am I in a position to continue to lead this team or business? If not, who is?
I hope the answer to the question I posed at the start of this blog is a resounding no. But if not, then we better not waste any more time starting to get the momentum that is needed.
This article was contributed by Luke Johnson, Strategic Advisor.