Embrace the Fresh Start

“A fresh start is like a mental boundary. It's a chance to leave past failures behind and look forward with hope. It's like hitting the reset button on your life's game console, ready to start a new level with fresh energy.”  ~ Kathy Miller Perkins

Fresh starts - we all need them. This new year is a fresh start. A time to take a deep breath and appreciate what has been, to look forward to what’s on its way and to acknowledge with gratitude the gift we have been given as leaders. A fresh start is like a checkpoint to remind ourselves of our values, our goals and our mission as well as where we are on the journey of excellence.

A fresh start after the holiday break and the beginning of a new calendar year is a place to remember our why and to restart our momentum - or our ‘flywheel’ as Jim Collins called it in Good to Great. Sometimes a fresh start creates space for a recommitment and a renewed resolve. We have the opportunity to reset our minds and our hearts to the important work of our organizations.

How can you model the embracing of a fresh start for your team? One way is through collectively reflecting on values and progress toward goals and a recommitment to those values and those goals and the strong belief in each other and the team to achieve the goals and the vision of the organization. It is critical that we as leaders are projecting realistic optimism based on the team and their ability regardless of the challenges ahead.

“Realistic optimism is a sense of self-confidence based on experience, knowledge and proven skills. It is not cockiness. It is the secure belief that there is always a way out, always an opportunity to move ahead, even in the worst crisis.” ~ Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger