Coaching To Your 2024 Plan

Robert Burns once said “Best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” No plan can be airtight against the twists and turns that life will throw our way, but we can certainly develop realistic goals and milestones that we hope to achieve this year. Last quarter, we suggested some tools to create a 2024 plan. However, have you enacted the proper coaching tools to set that plan up for success?

Successful coaches like Jim Harbaugh, John Wooden, or Pat Summit are revered not just for their statistical success, but rather for the legacy they’ve built and the culture they’ve seamlessly created. How can a leader emulate their success?

Inspire First, Motivate Second: The key difference between a boss and a leader is their ability to motivate their employees. This is not the same as being “well-liked” in the office, but rather well-respected. Best way to start? Never ask your employees to do something you wouldn’t do.
Have A Strong and Collaborative Mission. Your plan includes all players on your team, so you should include them in your decision making process. Start by assessing your milestones–who will accomplish each task, and how? Have you set that employee up for success by communicating their mission to them properly, or asked them what they believe is the most efficient way? A good coach can teach their players well; a great coach learns from their players too.
Establish Accountability. With accountability comes communication. Setting up a foolproof system of communication between you and your leaders is important to achieve the milestones you’ve listed out. In our experience with clients, a whole new system had to be put into place to improve the culture of communication within the company. This could mean the CEO training the CFO to lead cross-functionally, or coaching your CMO to meet a key milestone to select and implement a new marketing system to improve quality and reach.

To recap the points made above, a team becomes excellent with practice. Establishing 4-6 milestones at the start of the year for each leader, properly assigning them, and then implementing systems that support these milestones is the best way to ensure the success of your 2024 plan. A legacy is built by an inspiring leader with a strong mission, and a commitment to collaboration. Looking to emulate the success of America’s finest coaches? Follow the steps above.

We hope your 2024 plan is set up for success, and we are always here for a helping hand!