We have two days until the New Year. For some of you, that fact might be very significant. For others, January 1st may just be another day. Regardless of where you are on the spectrum, I feel like a blog on how to be a leader in the New Year is timely. 

You are a leader

 I believe God wants to encourage you right now. You can make a difference. Think about it. Every one of us will, in some way or another, be placed in at least small positions of leadership throughout our lives. 

It is almost 2021; a new year that has come highly anticipated. I don’t know how 2020 treated you, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something discouraging happened— a loss of a job, financial downturn, or illness. It can be hard to believe that you can make a difference when life feels stagnant or stressful. You may feel out of control. To a degree, you are. But God is in control, and He has a plan for your life and leadership. 

1. Find Your Vision

The first step is to cultivate a leadership vision for the year. Who are the key people in your personal and professional life? What goal(s) are you trying to reach together in the next 365 days? If you’re not sure where to start, try not to become discouraged. After all, locating your purpose isn’t supposed to be easy.

Proverbs 20:5 (NIV) says “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”

I’m from south Texas and grew up catching two kinds of fish— largemouth bass and crappie. Later I lived on the coast, so the varieties changed to redfish, speckled trout, and flounder. When we finally moved to Colorado, where we live now, I learned (after A LOT of practice) how to fly fish. Why am I telling you this? Well, fishing has taught me a valuable lesson. About 90 percent of all fish are caught deep in the water, and 98 percent of the biggest fish are caught in even deeper areas.

It’s the same with purpose. The purposes in a person’s heart are like deep water, but a person of insight or understanding will draw them out. Most of us think that God is going to show up and slap us upside the head with purpose and vision. Yet, God’s word tells us that His purposes run deep and we must seek them out. Meditate on what this could mean for your upcoming year.

2. Pray and Plan

It’s the same with purpose. The purposes in a person’s heart are like deep water, but a person of insight or understanding will draw them out. Most of us think that God is going to show up and slap us upside the head with purpose and vision. Yet, God’s word tells us that His purposes run deep and we must seek them out. Meditate on what this could mean for your upcoming year.

Once you have a vision, it’s time to plan it out step by step. The writer Thomas Carlyle wrote that “A person with a clear purpose will make progress on even the roughest road. A person with no purpose will make no progress on even the smoothest road.”

Even if 2021 turns out to be just as unpredictable and chaotic as 2020, that doesn’t mean that you will get stagnant. Make a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C for the matters that are most important to you. 

There are two types of change: forced change and proactive change. With the volatile nature of last year, you may be on the rebound from some forced change. But, knowing what you do now, there’s a high probability that you are more equipped than you think to make some proactive changes in your life. 

Innovation simply means making a change in something that is established. Innovation is the key to being successful when things don’t go the way you planned. God designed humans to adapt. In his book, H3 Leadership, Brad Lomenick writes “the key to innovation is intentionality.” Having peace and a plan can help you be a great leader in the new year. 

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For more tips on leading yourself, others, and your organization, check out my book Leadership Mastery. We are praying for your success as you become an even better leader in the new year!