3 Growth Areas in 2016

“You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow

A recent survey of international business leaders concluded that the #1 focus for those leaders was ‘profitable growth’. Lots of people hear ‘growth’ and they immediately think of new products or new markets or really successful salespeople. But there are other possibilities.

Think about personal growth. This means you. Mention ‘personal growth’ to some people and they picture sitting around a campfire chanting, or some kind of deep meditation. We’re not talking about that. We’re simply talking about what you can do better in 2016. Maybe it’s one of these three things:

New skills. Think about the requirements of your position. What do you need to do better this year? Do you need to be a better coach? Do you need to be better at change management? Think about the future as well. What haven’t you had to do yet that will be a critical skill in a few years? Get started on it now.

New focus. What are the critical opportunities & challenges facing your business? A lot of people spent a lot of time during the world financial crisis focused on controlling costs. What is it today? Is it profitability? Is it increased sales? Is it innovation? Have you been internally focused & now it’s time to look outside? Or vice versa?

New or improved relationships. Think about the critical relationships that are part of your role in the business. Maybe it’s customers, maybe it’s staff, maybe vendors, whatever. What can you do to improve those relationships? There’s never been a relationship yet that couldn’t improve. What about new relationships? What relationships could you develop in the coming year that would have a critical impact on your business?

The HOW of all of this depends on what you’re trying to do. Maybe you need to attend classes, do some online training, read, find a group of peers, find a coach, sit down with somebody and talk about something, do some visioning – the list is endless. The point is DO IT.

Don’t think that the same you from 2015 will do better in 2016 without change. The world changes, and you have to change to stay effective. Don’t just hope you make the right change. Tackle it intentionally – and start today.