We can’t talk about leading in 2021 without taking into account the emotional state of our employees and our teams.

You may have seen some of the latest research around the Mental Health statistics for employees.

Here’s an excerpt from the Morneau Shepell Mental Health Index report from December 2020. The Mental Health Index report measures the current mental health status of employed adults amidst the Covid-19 pandemic across Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia.

Happy New Year!

I hope you were able to enjoy your Holidays and they provided you with what you needed.

As we look to 2021 I feel optimistic and excited for what’s to come.

As I look around to the world I still see turbulence, uncertainty, and many challenges. And I also see beauty, kindness, and innovation - solving and addressing some of those challenges we face.

As I turn inward and think about the impact I want to have and the role I want to play, I think about things like:

I’ll start by asking you as a business owner & leader - what do you need right now?

Maybe it’s a few more ‘deals’, maybe it’s to finish a project before year-end, maybe your work is winding down and you’re still shopping and thinking about preparing to celebrate the Holidays, and maybe it’s…rest.

Whatever the answer for you, I wanted to add some thoughts about what to consider as you wind down this tumultuous year.

You don’t need to get through your to-do list, focus on managing your priorities.

With changes happening regularly, sometimes hitting us daily, challenging our focus and shifting our plans, you can pretty much toss that to-do list out the window.

These days our weeks are anything but predictable, yet our work must continue.

So, how do we continue to adapt to our still-changing environment?

If you’ve often wondered how you can get your team working towards goals with the same sense of urgency that you have — you are not alone.

As a leader, meeting deadlines and goals are important, and yet you can’t accomplish this unless you have the whole team on board.

So what do you do when everyone isn’t on board? Or, have the same sense of urgency that you do?

In spite of the strategies you may try in growing your business or stepping into a broader leadership role, having ideas to pursue is only half the equation for success.

Often we know what we need to do, but why is it so difficult to do it sometimes? To internalize it.

There can be so many reasons why we humans don’t do the things that are good for us all the time or don’t always make choices that support us, but one of those areas that we could bring focus to is our mindset.

Your mindset WILL support you to navigate challenges and is an important determinant of your success.

Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: , says that…..”Mindsets frame the running account that’s taking place in people’s heads. They guide the whole interpretation process.”

The life of an entrepreneur and Leader is fraught with traps….

• dealing with all the things that come at you in a day

• having multiple decisions to make

• dealing with competing priorities

• balancing day-to-day tactical items with strategic planning

Even if you’re a whiz at ‘getting things done’, we’re human and it’s impossible to be good at all the things.

Any one of the above items can suck the time out of our schedules in what seems like the snap of a finger. Yet, we so often think about these things in terms of the time we spend. Or the time they take.

How about instead of looking at these things that take up time, consider asking yourself

There’s so much to say on this topic and how it relates to being successful.

The perspective I’d like to take on this today, with you, is to illuminate how powerful it is when you create focus and simplicity in your work.

There’s a caveat here: Simplicity does NOT equal easy :).

If you’re scrambling in your role or business and not seeming to get the traction you want, an injection of clarity can help.

I help Business Owners and Leaders create a positive social impact through their business by helping them to grow and be sustainable.

Our current reality is the sum of our actions and decisions.

If some of those actions and decisions are not aligned to a single focus or destination then it’s a little like…

This sometimes feels so elusive - where are they? How do I get more?

If you’ve been in business for a while then you actually have some data to draw on. Instead of looking outward, look inward to your previous experiences.

These experiences can tell you a LOT about how to find more clients/customers like the ones you already have. It can be a great source of information for you.

Do you have a vision for where your business will be in the future?

Do you have a sense of what you’re creating through your work and how it contributes?

Do you feel inspired when you think of what’s ahead for your work?

If you don’t have a Vision Statement, I invite you to consider what yours could look like.

If you haven’t yet landed on a Vision - or a written out statement - chances are, it’s somewhere inside you, un-articulated and yet defined.

Let’s look at the benefits of creating a vision statement for your business…

With the current light being shone on systemic racism, I see many of you checking in on your own understanding of what this means.

As am I.

If I were to ask you this question, “What is the mark of a good Leader?”

What attributes would come up for you?

What often comes up would be attributes such as:

• They are Visionary

• They develop others

• They set the goals for the organization

• They are good communicators

• They navigate change

Another that I’d like to add to the mix here, is: They recognize when they may not have all the answers.

How do we turn disappointments in your business and leadership into a profound path forward that will lead us to future wins?

We’ve all felt it. The time when our customer didn’t come on board.

That moment where our idea fell flat in the boardroom and ultimately was glossed over.

That moment when our proposal wasn’t accepted.

That time when our manager didn’t seek our input on an important direction, when you felt you had been integral up to that point.

Instead of going to down the path, which so often might occur, of spinning out in a spiral of feeling put down, de-motivated, which then can lead into, ‘am I cut out for this?’ or ‘why does this always happen to me’ I’d like to make another suggestion.

Growing a business and leading your organization can be fraught with ‘what-if’s’ and ‘maybe’s’ and general unknowns.

Deciding which way to go can feel like you’re at the fork of multiple paths.

So, how can you create certainty, when you don’t feel at all certain?

First, what creates certainty?

Is it more information?

Knowing you couldn’t fail?

Knowing if someone will buy?

So consider this, does having more information really create more certainty? Perhaps in some cases….but we can never really have ALL the information. Can we?

I write this as I sit here in the sun - taking my work outside to write to you today - because…..why not?

We, in the northern part of our hemisphere, are starting to experience the lovely warmth of spring and anticipating the coming summer days.

Some of us may even be starting to experience a relaxing of some of the restrictions that we’ve been living with for the past 2 months.

As the weather warms and I think ahead to the summer months - approaching summer this year is unlike any other spring ever. Usually, I have things very planned out. I know which weeks will be vacation, I’ll have everything booked, kids’ camps/activities booked and it will usually be mostly all set by now.

This year, in a year where we’re unsure from one week to the next what will be open or what we will be able to do, the coming months may look very different AND my level of planning around it has shifted.

I hope you are well and finding your way at this time.

I had a few people reach out to me, sharing their challenges of trying to get things done.

These were centred around the area of time management and productivity….in the midst of managing other things at home now.

This is aligns so well with the topic of personal productivity that normally comes up in the work and coaching I do with business owners and leaders. And it aligns with the concept of showing up even when it’s a challenge and you don’t feel like it. This is a skill in leadership.

However, that being said, while I love the topic of personal leadership, at this time, I believe we can serve ourselves and others well, if it’s tempered, with more awareness and patience for ourselves and others during this situation we’re facing.

Yet, at the same time, there are still things to be done.

The idea I’m sharing with you today is practical and in the area of productivity & time management.

However, for the next few weeks, I’ll be leaving productivity and moving into other ideas on how we can conduct business at this unusual time.

Tune in here to another idea on how to shape the way you work at this time…

if you’re still able to work right now, chances are, you have team members in other locations that you’re managing. I know many of you are leaders and business owners.

Whether this is new to you – maybe you’ve normally worked in person together – OR maybe leading a virtual team is something you’ve always done,

Here are some ideas to consider as you continue to lead your team at this time.

In this time of working from home, with so many distractions and major worldwide issues unfolding AND having others in your home, having a strong morning routine can mean the difference between a great day and an unfocussed one….which can sometimes add up to many unfocussed days.

I wanted to go back to basics here, because this is what we are all facing right now. Our regular routines have been disrupted. Where we work has changed for many. There are others in your space that may not normally be there…..

I will add a disclaimer here as well…sometimes we need time to process, time to adjust, reflect and adapt, with patience, compassion and grace. I am in favour of taking the time to process all the changes and challenges that you’ve been through or are facing. If that means working at slow speed, making space for more family time, I am all for it.

When you are ready…and I know you will be. You’ll be wanting to get some things done. And, feeling like you’re able and capable of getting things accomplished will be a form of carving out your own control in a situation that is very fluid now.

So when you are ready, here are some ideas for you.

Well - this has been a week of weeks! And, really, what a start to 2020 if you take in when this all began on the other side of the world (and it really technically started late 2019). There’s a lot going on in the world right now and I’m guessing many of us are trying to make sense of it all.

I am so grateful to our brothers and sisters around the world who are sharing with us what it means to find solidarity, to collaborate on information and who are contributing to the sense that we are all going through this together.

In uncertain and complex times and with a 24/7 news cycle, a virus that no one wants to get, and with unprecedented shut-downs for many, this is like pulling the rug of safety and security right out from under us.

Have you ever heard the quote:

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” by Albert Einstein?

Einstein suggests that shifting how we look at things provides us with the clarity to find solutions. In order to shift our thinking though, understanding our behaviours can help identify how we think or feel about things. So, let’s look at your leadership behaviours.

First, what do I mean about next level behaviour?

This is the higher level behaviours we use when we are at our best selves and step into a more evolved or expanded version of the role we are striving to inhabit.

As an example, for the business owner, next level leadership behaviour may come when you consider what you would do if you thought about what your business needed from you. Or, what you would do if fear wasn’t in the way?

What behaviours would you need to lean into more fully in order to execute in a critical area? This could be what your business needs to enhance it’s marketing or sales process, for example. Or, it could be what’s needed to improve any process in your business, for that matter.

As a business leader there are behaviours that contribute to the success of your business and there are behaviours that are neutral (may not have an impact either way) and then some that may even put up challenges to achieving success.

Here are some behaviours I have observed that can prevent us from evolving in our leadership effectiveness:

Do you listen to podcasts?

I really enjoy podcasts. I love how they can get me thinking about new strategies or different ways to look at things.

One of the topics I enjoy listening to is about productivity. (I know…..but I’m owning it.)

As a business owner, wearing a number of hats can feel overwhelming with all that needs to be done.

I’ve mentioned before that productivity issues can be a symptom of something larger - not keyed into a vision or goals, not focussing on the ‘right’ things, etc.

But at the end of the day sometimes we just need help managing the number of items we have on our plate. So, sometimes a new idea or a strategy is what we need to support our planning and ‘the doing of things’.

If productivity or time management is something that you struggle with or want to learn more about, I thought I would share a list of podcasts that I’ve enjoyed.

I’ve found these podcasts helpful in giving me unique perspectives in how I run my own business, support my clients and apply the concepts to other areas of my life.

Here are 3 to check out: