It is time.

Winter (in the northern hemisphere) has been long enough.  Yes, it’s still a little cold, dark and wet.  But you know that change is afoot.

Are you awake enough to seize the moment while everyone else is still groggy from winter?

It’s time to trade in the hibernation and slow grow of winter for the coming out of spring.

What do you need to get going on?  And what can you do this week to prime the pump, so to speak?

Bottom Line: Make a short transition to spring thinking and acting while everyone else is still coming out of winter.  You’ll be ahead.

Power Questions:
1. What in my work am I excited to move forward?
2. What signs of spring am I already noticing that remind me it is coming?
3.  What huge steps can I take to really accelerate what has meaning my life?

A lot of companies are in pause mode—waiting for clarity about the economy, future prospects, expenses, etc.  And that can lead to drowsiness within the business itself.

This is a no-brainer, you say: stay ahead by staying awake.  But it’s not always easy.

Carol S. was a VP of sales who thought she was paying attention, since she knew her division results inside and out.  She found it really hard to explain why next quarter there was a mass exodus of her best salespeople.  She was asleep to staff morale.

Although business was good for Phil B. as project manager and he was paying attention to client satisfaction, he woke up one day to discover that his competitors were not only getting some bigger projects…they were getting government support to make them happen.  He was asleep to emerging opportunities in his marketplace.

Roger L’s wife was surprised when one morning he awoke and declared he was “bored” with the business he had created and run for 18 years.  She asked him why the sudden change of heart.  Roger was beginning to realize that he had stopped paying attention to his dreams and how they were evolving.

Are you Awake and Paying Attention to…

1.      Your dreams and goals for the future . They aren’t here yet, and need to be remembered in order to be realized.

2.       The metrics that indicate the health of your business. You can have those at your fingertips real-time these days.  Do you know them and use them in your planning and feedback to others?

3.       Your people, your clients, your partners. Have you noticed that people’s moods, assumptions, conclusions and satisfaction change over time?  “Check in” to find out how today is different from last month.

4.       Your marketplace. Customers needs and wants DO change  Are you in touch enough to know where they are now AND where they are headed?  Will customers use a service or product like yours in 2020?

5.       Your growth. Some businesses pay close attention to how well they are doing today.  But…are you bigger or better than you were two years ago?  Do you have a yardstick to measure how much you’ve grown?

6.      The speed of change. Ask yourself, how quickly are the things we are buying or creating becoming obsolete?

Obviously this list is just a start.  In what areas of your business might you be asleep at the wheel?

I challenge you to wake up and breathe life into the work you’ve chosen to love.

(This post was previously published in the November 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

First the good news:  Spring is almost here, just around the corner.  In four months or less, you’ll be wishing you had less work to do, and more time to spend outside.

Better news (for your business): Most of your competition is acting like it’s going to stay winter forever.  They’ve gone into hibernation…or the very least, a slowing down period.

And here is your opportunity:  While everyone else is waiting for a thaw, make the first 100 days of the year your most productive, most exciting and the most successful for your business.  Call it your winter window of opportunity.

Here are seven ideas for starting the year off with a bang (not in order).

1.  Expedite all your goals.  Look at your long-range goals for the year (you do have them, right?)  Now, try and move as many as you can into the first quarter for completion.  You’ll know you’ve moved enough when you start to feel uncomfortable / excited.  Bonus: By doing this you will likely increase the chance they’ll happen at all this year.

2.  Schedule shorter bursts (timeframes) to get things done.  I wrote about bursts in the June issue so I won’t go into it here…use quicker deadlines and shorter timeframes to increase your own sense of urgency…even while everyone around you is wishing for a snow day.

3.  Accomplish something meaningful.  I don’t say this lightly: If you’re not that inspired by any of the goals on your list, where do you expect to get the motivation to get them done?  In addition to your “have to” work…add something REALLY inspiring and big to your list of things to accomplish in the first quarter of this year.  That one thing will help you get motivated for the other goals, too.

4.  Identify a strategic (smart) risk to take that could have a big payoff for your company.  And then take that risk at the beginning of the year when everyone else is hunkered down, waiting for…spring, school to let out, the economy to improve, etc.

5.  Identify where you can over-deliver…and do so.  Clients, customers, colleagues are expecting some great things from you over the next year or two (you’ve even made some promises).   Make good on those expectations and promises by delivering NOW—before springtime, and watch their looks of astonishment.

6.  Schedule yourself a big reward…for when you accomplish all these things in the first three months of the year.  Maybe it’s a real spring break, a trip, a new toy…whatever you would enjoy.  Make it big enough and soon enough that it motivates you.

7.  Enjoy the benefits of actually BEING AHEAD so early.  If you really do accomplish more in the first quarter than most others will all year; if you really do start the year with such a bang…think about what the rest of the year will be like:

You really could enjoy your vacation; you could take the rest of the year to accomplish ten times as much as you ever have in any twelve months before; you could smile instead of commiserate whenever you hear someone else talk about how behind they feel in their work.

You could enjoy what it feels like knowing you’re moving toward your dreams at the pace of a winner.

(This post was previously published in the January 2010 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

After all, how can you expect to make things different this coming year, if you can’t quite remember what happened in February?

Three questions you could learn from:

1.  How do your 2009 goals compare to your actual accomplishments?

2.  What surprised you this year?  Disappointed you?  Thrilled you?

3.  What will the business have to do differently in order for 2010 to be an improvement on last year?

Just in case you’ve never made this a part of your end of year routine…three ways to do it:

1.  Take a walk with a small notebook or have a cup of coffee with a blank notepad.  Answer the three questions above.  Actually reflect and think about how your choices and circumstances last year have brought you where you are now.

2.  Ask your leadership team, or your closest clients and colleagues to give you three ideas for how you could work better or serve them better in 2010.

3.  Take a day out and retreat with your closest people.  Dig a little deeper into the analysis above AND dream bigger for the coming year.  When I lead these for clients, the learning that is uncovered is almost always insightful and decidedly worth the time.

Your real creative edge:  Ask yourself: What behaviors (or attitude) OF MINE do I need to change in order for my business to do better next year?  How must I change personally, so it can grow?

While the others are just hoping for an improvement next year, YOU can be doing the work and learning necessary to make it so.

(This post was previously published in the December 2009 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )