10 resolutions for successful leaders to have in the new year

Our (true) presence is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. Your people feeling seen will give you more. Period. Prioritize the human, be present with them, see them — and create guardrails, agreements for performance, and clear expectations. Then set them free to do their magic.

Intention is at the root of creating impact. Moving fast and navigating the demands around us, it's easy to forget or disconnect from intention (or not to have one to begin with). Pausing to consider intention and to get clear on purpose — why we're doing what we're doing, who it impacts, and what it's all for — clarifies actions and decisions, points energy in the right direction, creates clean "yes's" and "no's," and makes those hard decisions easier.

Negative energy is costing us billions of dollars a year in the US — a 2017 Gallup study put us at $483 billion to $605 billion a year in lost productivity due to actively disengaged employees.

"Actively disengaged" has everything to do with the energy in your organization. While it's been easy and tempting to skip dealing with the "soft stuff" in leadership and culture, you cannot. Leaders and organizations who want to go further faster and better will lean into it.

You have a tenth of a second to make a first impression. Ninety-three percent of your impact is in how you're showing up, and you are contagious. It means something to pay attention here. The energy and presence you bring into a room will be felt and likely taken on by others (just as you may take on theirs). You can set the tone, or you can be clobbered by it.

If your intentions are clean and you're focusing on the right things, the truth works just great. Save yourself a ton of time, energy, and bandwidth to focus on the right things (as opposed to posturing, pretending, and evading hard truths). We are all doing the best we can. We're human. So … be human. Be humble. Ask for help. Lean into vulnerability. And create space for others to do the same.

If you really want to lead and create impact, you're going to have to get comfortable with your discomfort — comfortable with confronting the things you may not want to address head on, comfortable saying "no" to things that don't line up, and comfortable with saying "yes" to things that do but that stretch you. Your comfort with discomfort is proportional to how far you can lead. Lean in.

You are the author of your life — what you create is totally up to you. You have zero control over anyone else or anything, but you do control you. Take the time to set yourself up well through your self-talk, intentions, and planning. Create boundaries and take a minute to hear yourself think.

You can have it all — if you must. And … that may mean you're exhausted, or doing it subpar on all levels. Prioritize meaning, show up, do it well, lead well, stay well, and bring all of you to what's most important. And then move to the "next" when you're ready.

This means seeing the best in yourself and your people, getting curious about what is possible for you in your growth (and for them), seeing, and believing.

Challenge people to step up — give them productive feedback and commit to being in service of their growth than you are to being liked (or comfortable).

If you wish for more of a deep dive, take a look at the IEP Method, or read my latest book. The great thing is that whether you desire to be more as an organization in 2020 — or as an individual leader — this all works together.

To your next decade. Let's lead.