ARE YOU “RUNNING” YOUR BUSINESS OR “RUNNING” YOUR FAMILY? WELL NO MORE, BECAUSE IT’S TIME TO LEAD!

This is your year to lead, so no more operating day-to-day or even quarter-to-quarter, no more spinning your wheels or constantly feeling behind, wondering what you need to do to move the dial.

I’m not really into the whole New Year, New You thing because it doesn’t really account for all the work that’s required to become an elevated version of yourself. But I am behind making a shift from stressed-out-and-spread-thin business owner and parent into the leader you’re called to be.

So, today’s episode is all about how to shift fully into leadership this year, how to choose to lead and what that looks like. If you are ready to step into your next level, to feel aligned and connected, to know you’re in the right place, working towards the right things then this episode’s for you.

From Frazzled to Laser Focused

If  you are ready to start the new year with clarity, freedom and joy and get rid of the overwhelm and chaos of life, then go download our FREE resource called From Frazzled to Laser Focused. It is a 30- minute game plan that will change everything so go download it now!

Shift From Running to Leading

If you’re looking for New Year’s resolutions, you’ve come to the wrong place. 

Life doesn’t start or end with the new year. Life is this fluid, ongoing, visionary experience and all the things you’ve wanted to feel through those resolutions that didn’t really move the dial will come through with what we’re talking about today. 

This is how you feel the things that you’re aiming at, this is how you become the person you’re called to be and you find that you’re in your sweet spot of life, both in business and in the four walls of your own home with your family. 

We are shifting from running to leading. This is the year where you’re trading in your running sneaks because you’re not running any longer, you are leading. It is a conscious choice that you’re making today to shift how you’re doing everything. Some of the other things that you’ll also be trading in (aside from just your running sneaks) in both your business and at home that are going to take you from stressed and feeling spread thin to being confident and producing the results you want to see:

• You’re trading in working without a long term plan and vision
• You’re trading in not having a True North 
• You’re trading in to-do lists
• You’re trading in the wrong YESs
• You’re trading in having a team without a leader 
• You’re trading in lack of courage

I will walk you through what I mean by each of those things and what you can actually do to start to see and feel that shift.

Have Your Vision

How often do you feel like you go into something, whether it be something personal or something business related, with the best of intentions and then all hell breaks loose, or you just feel like you’re spinning your wheels?

One of the root causes of that stress symptom is doing what you’re doing without a long-term plan and vision for both you and your people (i.e. your team and your family). I’m not talking about a list of things to get done or a list of goals but an actual beautiful, comprehensive vision for where you’re going and why.

Sometimes we get on autopilot and we are just going through the motions, doing the things that we have to do, that we are supposed to do, but we lose sight of why we’re doing them. Things pile up, life gets busier and more demanding, and when we don’t have a vision of what we’re working towards, within our organization or within our family, that’s where we usually end up in that autopilot zone where nothing really feels fulfilling and purposeful, and we lose the joy in the process.

This is where I want you to start. There’s so much intention and strategy that goes into having this future vision and being a visionary who is leading it forward to something brighter and better.

The most powerful way to do this is with a visionary retreat, that you can modify to fit what’s possible for you in the season. So, if you haven’t listened to Episode 32 where I break down exactly how I do that visionary experience, go ahead and give it a listen. This visionary retreat will allow you to see into the future of what you’re building and why, and then you can bring that to your people. This creates such powerful inertia behind your mission and behind you so that you can finally start to feel that momentum that you’ve been craving.

You have to stop envisioning things without building in the strategy to make it come to life. A lot of that means stripping away the habits, the activities and the things that are holding you back from living that vision. Leaders are very future-thinking but their feet are also very firmly planted in reality too. They look ahead and they always have eyes on that vision because that’s what they’re aiming at. However, they can see where the gaps are in getting there. They don’t just come up with this beautiful vision and then get to work. They want to make sure that they’re doing the right work, that they’re doing the right things and eliminating the wrong ones.

Have a True North, Your Guiding Star 

The next piece is having a True North. 

Stop operating without that True North. You need the guiding star, you need the set of standards and values that you plan to operate by, both as a business and as a family. You can do all of the above, but without this piece, it is literally useless because you’re just taking a shot in the dark. 

As I say so often, please take advantage of the free resource that we’ve put together, our True North workbook at luminaryleadershipco.com/truenorth. It is one of the most powerful things we’ve created and the feedback that we’ve gotten from those that have done it and applied it has been off the charts. 

Having this foundation, knowing with certainty who you are, what you stand for, what you stand against, how you want to live, this is what you juxtapose everything against, all the decisions you make. If you ever feel like you’re floundering in decision making, with the kids or in your marriage or in your business, this is going to be the clarity creator for you. 

Say Goodbye to To-do Lists

Good leaders don’t operate from a running list of crap that they have to get done. 

You can make a resolution today that you are a leader and that you’re going to finally get out of the weeds of your business. Then you’re going to sit down at your desk and you’re going to write down a mile long to-do list that just keeps growing. And guess what? Every day for the next year you will be in the weeds of your business. 

You need to start thinking about things that are on your to-do list that you can eliminate or, at the very least, delegate. If it’s not important, please outsource that or just let it go. Because those things are taking up mental space in your brain, feeling like you need to get this thing done that really doesn’t matter. And if it actually matters, pay somebody else to do it. Because your time has dollar value that can be put towards something that brings in enough cash flow to cover that project. 

So, instead of having a to-do list that just grows, create a done list. A done list is a list of two or three things that you are going to get done, that need to get done in a day. We all obviously have tasks, if you’re running a business or you have a family, you have little crap that just needs to be done. Save those tasks for a time when you’re not in your most creative and energized space. Twice a week, I set aside a 45 minute period at the end of the day when I’m just ready to be done, for tasks and that’s when they get done. They do not infiltrate my day, they do not infiltrate my zone of genius, they do not infiltrate my family time. 

Stop the Wrong YES

Good leaders don’t get distracted or disillusioned by shiny things.

As a leader, you have to be able to talk about and think about the things you’re saying yes to because when you say yes to something, you’re also saying no to something. As you start to find more success, there will be more opportunities, there will be more doors opening but it doesn’t mean you should go through every single one of them. You have to have that wisdom and discernment to be able to say yes to the right things. This is where a lot of people who are on the cusp of stepping into leadership really get tripped up.

One of the secrets of truly successful people who are actually happy and fulfilled is that they say no a lot. They don’t get sold on opportunities. They only allow in the opportunities that align with their values. This is why the True North and that foundation are so important. 

Don’t Allow Your Team to Be Without a Leader

When you look at your business, and when you look at your family, are you leading them or are you managing them? And if you are managing them, who is leading them? Because someone is. Who is instilling the values, modeling leadership, planning for what’s next, seeing the possibility, mapping out the plan to get there? 

They need a leader and they need you to be that leader. They need you to step up and to draw that line in the sand that you will not live in this “waiting-for-it-all-to-fall-in-place” mode any longer. Management is keeping things status quo, being those bumper lanes but leadership is always having sight on that vision and infusing the passion and the purpose and the reason behind it into the people that you’re leading.

Eliminate Lack of Courage 

Making a vision come to life requires a level of courage that few people are willing to have.

Imagine the gift that you’d be giving your organization, your company and the people you serve, or your children or spouse, when you empower them to have courage to take the necessary risks to pursue that vision.

Maybe there’s an employee in your business that you love and you want to work with, but there’s something going on and you’ve been avoiding having a tough conversation. That’s managing, that’s not leading. What if it’s with your children or your spouse, and you just don’t want to deal with the conflict and you don’t want to upset anybody? There are really hard, powerful moments you could have as a leader and when you come from a place of love, it can be an uncomfortable thing, it can be a painful thing but it has purpose in pursuit of what’s next, in pursuit of that vision.

If you try this shift from running and managing to leading in your business and life, let me know how it goes!

RESOURCES:

• From Frazzled to Laser Focused Resource: https://luminaryleadershipco.com/focused
• True North Workbook: https://luminaryleadershipco.com/truenorth
• Get on our email list and keep up-to-date with what I am doing! https://luminaryleadershipco.com/insider
• Connect with me on Instagram!