Nurturing Support: Leadership’s Role in Sustaining New Year Momentum Beyond January

Learn how leaders can sustain the momentum and engagement sparked by new-year goal-setting to drive longer-term success.

Today’s guest post is by Craig Goodliffe, CEO & Founder – Cyberbacker

The start of a new year is a great time to refocus your workforce on the vision that drives your organization. Dialing up your mission and reminding your team why it matters can take engagement to the next level.

However, leaders also must keep in mind that growing and maintaining a successful business is a marathon, rather than a sprint. Inspiring employees at the starting line doesn’t guarantee they will continue to be motivated as the race unfolds.

To see your organization thrive, you must find ways to sustain new year momentum well into the second month and beyond. The following are some steps leaders can take to foster an environment in which the energy generated at the start of the year can drive long-term success.

Dwell on the possibilities

The new year is full of possibilities. Ambitious leaders will have plenty of ideas as to how their organizations can convert possibility into accomplishment, but they should also allow space for their employees to share their aspirations.

If your idea of motivating the troops is a State of the Union address, you probably won’t maximize the potential of New Year’s energy. A “town hall” meeting is a better approach, so take the time early in the year to create a space where team members can share their aspirations as well as hear yours.

Dialogue on possibilities for the new year can involve both personal and professional goals. Ideally, professional goals will flow from the organization’s overall vision. Managers can assist by identifying ways that aspirations can be aligned with corporate goals.

Channel individual aspirations into team goals

Setting the right kind of goals can be a key component in inspiring long-term motivation, which is why setting and adhering to achievable, relevant, and specific goals is crucial. There’s nothing wrong with stretching the team, but overwhelming employees with something that is clearly not attainable will only demotivate them and cause morale to plummet.

Leaders can help teams see how their individual aspirations can be channeled into achievable goals and show how those individual goals can be combined into team goals to maximize their impact. For example, members of a marketing team may have individual goals related to lead generation or increasing brand awareness. By tailoring those goals to focus on certain segments of the market, team members can contribute to an overall company goal of increased market penetration in those segments.

Stacking goals in this way creates alignment, which increases the potential for sustaining the business’s overall momentum.

Revisit goals regularly

Shifting into autopilot is not a sound strategy for creating sustained momentum. Revisiting goals regularly helps to maintain focus, which can fade as the tyranny of the urgent intrudes on daily operations. Revisiting goals allows the entire team to see the progress that has been made, which can play a key role in maintaining momentum.

As goals are revisited, leaders may find that updates need to be made. A variety of things in the business landscape — economic indicators, technology innovations, market sentiment, etc. — can affect the long-term potential of business goals. As the world experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, events can crop up overnight that profoundly impact the direction businesses must take.

Even under normal business conditions, the actual progress made on goals may not match initial expectations. To keep delays from becoming disappointments, take time to review and update goals periodically. Allowing team members to provide feedback on their progress and weigh in on what factors could contribute to better progress can help keep them motivated.

Build a culture of long-term success

Sustainable momentum will be much easier to achieve if you build a culture of long-term success. This doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate short-term wins, however — just take the time to show how they can be built upon to achieve more substantial goals.

Every win should be a milestone on a year-long journey toward long-term goals. As wins are achieved, leadership should take the time to communicate their significance and encourage sustained effort to reach the ultimate finish line.

Leaders who provide nurturing support can create and sustain momentum throughout the year. Take the time to join your teams in developing, organizing, and pursuing meaningful goals, and then deploy a strategy that keeps those goals in focus, making adjustments when needed to keep teams motivated.

The ultimate result will be a workforce that is more engaged and more motivated to pursue organizational goals.

– Craig Goodliffe, CEO and founder of Cyberbacker, is an entrepreneur, leadership expert, and business coach known for his expertise in cross-cultural business development. Under his visionary leadership, Cyberbacker has become a global leader in virtual assistance and administrative support services, transcending geographical boundaries to empower businesses worldwide.

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