5 Takeaways to Set You Up for Success in 2025
Over the past year, we’ve coached individuals and teams around everything from creating trusting client relationships, strategic planning, tapping into the five influencing styles, managing projects successfully, and creating the next best version of a team. Here are the five takeaways from 2024 with a few tips to set you up for success in 2025.
The way to building a great relationship —whether it is a client or a team member— starts with a foundation of trust. Trust is about competency, reliability, sincerity, and having a “we’re in this together” mindset. Once you have trust, everything is easier.
Team members want you to share more information. When you find yourself holding back information, ask yourself:
How can I help my team understand the “why” behind their work?
Think back to a time when you didn’t share information and it didn’t go well. What you would do differently next time?
What communication channels need to be opened and how can I open them?
How can I make room for questions rather than assuming my team understands?
Team members want to be empowered. Before you jump in with the answer, empower by asking questions:
How do you want to handle this situation?
What are your thoughts?
What's your gut saying?
What are your thoughts on taking the lead/a larger role?
Team members want to be celebrated. Here are a few ways to cheer and celebrate milestones, progress, and lessons learned from failure.
Be on the lookout for the great things your team is doing. Maybe they performed quality work, suggested new ideas, learned new skills, supported a customer or colleague, or hit a milestone or company objective.
Ask about your team’s appreciation preferences and what’s important to them (e.g., a thank you, a reward, your time). Make note of it.
Make appreciation timely and in the moment.
Don’t let your biggest asset become your ass-ache. Your strengths (e.g., analytical, relator, stress resilient) are an asset, unless you tap into them too much. To use your strengths effectively:
Be intentional and choose the most appropriate strength for the situation. When overdone, your strength can actually get in your way.
Pause and reflect on what a successful outcome is in a situation. Ask yourself: Does my strength and automatic default style provide this outcome? Which situations may I need to dial back on my strengths?