2027 is right around the corner. Do you want a pay raise, a promotion, to be seen by your peers as a great leader? Whatever your motivation is, you need to choose one area to get better. What's it going to be? Below are some examples: • Stop rescuing. Pick one recurring decision your team keeps bringing you and hand it back with "what do you recommend?" instead of the answer. • Fix how bad news reaches you. Notice where it's traveling sideways instead of up to you, and change what happens the next time someone brings you a risk early. • Close the conflict you've been avoiding. Have the conversation. Get to an actual decision, not another "let's circle back." • Change your first move in meetings. Ask for dissent before you state your view, for the rest of Q4. • Repair one relationship where trust has quietly eroded. Own your part specifically, not generally. • Kill one initiative. A vision without a "stop doing" list is a wish list. • Give the feedback you've been avoiding because nice felt easier. Nice protects your comfort. Kind builds their trust. Drop your one thing below. Not five. One.

It’s not what your teams say on Monday, it’s how your team’s feel on Sunday.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding. Only in expressing his own opinion. Could you be listening more today? Like I tell my kids and players I coach. “Two ears one mouth.”

As a leader, sometimes we feel like we “have” to do things. Try switching that statement to “I get to” do something. As a high school football coach, I often hear players complaining that they have to practice. Coaching for 20 years I hear for so many kids that no longer play the game and talk about how much they miss it and didn’t realize how much they loved it while they were in the middle of doing it. Now, when I hear kids complain about practicing, I approach them and tell them the story of my middle son who misses football dearly. And I tell them once football is over it’s over. It’s not like other sports where you can play “pick up” games as an adult. I asked them to shift their mindset to, “I get to” practice today. It’s shocking how different they respond afterward. Try it. “I have to” have that hard conversation with a team member. Shift it to, “I get to” have that tough conversation. That conversation is one step closer to a positive outcome and a shift to a better behavior. You got the job that you once “hoped” for. You received a promotion that you were extremely excited for. You likely gained more income due to that promotion. You had dreams of how you could help people or grow the business. Try it this week at work and your personal life. “I get to……”