Welcome back to work. The holidays are behind and a new year begins whether we are prepared or not.

Our next Leadership class in Fort Lauderdale kicks off January 9. We still have a small number of openings for the class. If you have a manager that you would like to place in the program, please reply to this email or visit www.workingleadership.com to register.
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“What’s going to be different about this year?” I asked. “What’s changed? What has happened in the past 12 months that will have an impact on the next 12 months?”

Lauren looked pensive. “It’s been a tough year,” she replied. “Much of our business was connected to the housing industry and that’s been in the tank. We launched some new projects in response, but it wasn’t fast enough. We lost a few good people.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I have some ideas, but I don’t know if they are going to fly. We have to be very careful with our expenses and make sure we don’t squander away what opportunities we have.”

“How are you going to make sure that happens?” I continued to push.

“I know, you are going to ask me about our planning for this year. I don’t know, it’s just difficult to imagine what this year will bring.” Lauren stopped. She was waiting for me to agree with her, but I stood my ground and let the silence do the heavy lifting.

Finally she picked it up. “Okay, so it’s difficult to imagine the next 12 months, but, it is still important.”

“It is important. Not the plan itself. The important part is the process of imagining what your future will be like.” -TF
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Our planning template is available on our website as a free download. Here’s the link. www.managementblog.org.