A Critical Decision
Where will you put your focus and energy?  
                                  

We are at a critical point as business people. What we do now will have a significant effect on our businesses now, and into the next year. As 2002 dawned we were hopeful that the recovery was just around the corner. Unfortunately, the predicted spring revival did not happen. This year has proved more challenging than most expected, however many companies have done well despite the economic turmoil and chaos of unethical leadership.

So why is now such a critical time? Even those whose results have been positive say it has been much harder to accomplish this year. Last week yet another rate cut by the Fed. To stimulate the economy, pro-business candidates elected last week, and the promise of clearing the SEC leadership clout with the resignation of Harry Pitt restoring investor confidence gives us cause for optimism. But we can't wait or depend on others to cause or deliver the results we need now and in the future.

What must we do to seize the opportunity to make a significant improvement and take advantage of the optimistic mood that seems to be beginning? As the year closes out and budgets are being planned for next year, it is now time to not only create a long-term plan, but to seize the day, and month of November, to capture the best close for 2002 and build the foundation for a much better 2003. The key questions are, "What do we need to do and what is the best timing of those actions?" The following are points to consider in deciding your actions and timing:

Commit to Taking Positive Action
Regardless of you results s far this year, you can still make positive impact. You may not be able to significantly change the numbers for year end, but you can at least take the actions needed to make 2003 and beyond much more positive. Whatever your situation, commit to building much greater success in 2003 for you and your organization.

Candidly Assess Your Situation
Determine where you stand and what potential you have to post a good year or at least end the year strongly. If you have positive trends you could benefit from building momentum to take you into the New Year. If this is not the case it might be better to consider making your infrastructure stronger, improving skills, or implementing a strong plan a high priority during the remainder of the year.

Determine Your Year-End Strategy
Decide now if you want to focus your effort on making 2002 the best it can be, or if focusing on the actions needed to have a positive start for the next year would be more beneficial.

Identify the Changes Needed
What are the changes that will make you more successful? Is it building skills, developing a better plan, having more talented people, or finding ways to reward and recognize success? An easy way to determine this is to see what have you wished you could have fixed or improved during the past year. This will be an indicator of what you need.

Develop Your Plan
Now decide specifically how you will address those needs. If your need is skills, what must people learn? If your need is actions, how can you ensure the need actions are accomplished? Once you have this, develop a plan that energizes the staff and gets them focused on meeting those objectives.

Determine Your Timing
Once your plan is developed determine whether or not to push to implement it this year so everyone is ready to get off to a fast start in 2003 or do you need to back it off in January to give yourself more time to become organized.

Act Now
Planning is great but implementation is key. Once you have your plan and timeline be sure you achieve them by committing to a decisive action. Invest the time, resources, and effort to maximize your opportunity.

Whether you are maximizing the year-end or building a foundation for a very strong start to 2003, you have very little time to act. Move forward with purpose and speed. One rarely, if ever, wins by being indecisive or failing to act. Act now for a great year-end or a great 2003 kickoff!