Q1 Check-In: How Leaders Can Pivot, Learn from Failure, and Thrive
As we step into a new month, marking the approach towards the end of the first quarter, it’s the perfect moment for a thoughtful reflection on the journey so far. As any good steward of their goals, I like to take an inventory of my successes and failures at the end of each month.
March serves as a critical juncture to evaluate progress, recalibrate goals, and rekindle the drive needed to end Q1 on a high note. If you find yourself in a plateau, having fallen back or just need to re-energize to finish Q1 strong, here are the top three tips I would recommend to get back on track. All of these tips are directed at myself, and I will be implementing them to finish this quarter strong. I hope you find them helpful as well!
- Re-assess the objectives you set for yourself or business at the top of the year. Were they realistic and attainable? Have you managed to check them all off? If not, what have been the causes of delayed implementation? On the other hand, if you have succeeded, what have been the contributing factors to that success? Taking stock of these factors allows for flexibility as well as a change of plans in the case of failures, or a codification of key success factors in the case of positive outcomes. Either way, both are learning opportunities to either double-down on what’s working or course-correct for what isn’t.
- Closely tied to this assessment piece outlined above is differentiating between achieving goals and learning opportunities. Oftentimes we find ourselves setting objective measures of success that fail to account for the educational value that can be found in the process of doing. In casual conversations with friends, I’ve often maintained that adages hold as truisms for the simple reason that they have been experienced by a large enough sample size of the population that we have no choice but to agree to the collective wisdom of our lived experiences as humanity. In this case, the adage I am referring to is that “we learn from failures and not successes.” Embrace the falls, and treasure the lessons learned throughout the process. Fixating on the outcome is a missed opportunity to learn and improve the process in the next iteration.
- Finally, do not neglect your health. Whenever I have done my best work for clients, I have been at the top of my fitness game. The mental fortitude required for extensive training is unsurprisingly useful in the boardroom as well. Adequate rest, nutrition and stress management are necessary to push through the plateaus.
Where are you in your Q1 goals? Has the year started off the way you had hoped?
Whatever the circumstances, a diagnosis of your current state will give you the correct data to guide your next move. You’ve got this!
