Today is November 1, 2017. We’ve got about 60 days left in the year to finish strong. Or not.
We’ve also got about 60 days left to plan a solid start to 2018. Or not.
CEOs and business owners started thinking about 2018 months ago. You likely were formulating plans for 2018 this past summer. That doesn’t mean you weren’t thinking about, or planning for 2018 last year, or earlier. Some businesses have really long cycles. Like manufacturing, or pharmaceuticals. Success – even failure – can take a long time. And like any plans, clarity arrives the closer we get. Mostly because we have to get clear as deadlines or important dates grow closer. 
Let’s start with the finish. For some companies there are about 60 days left in the fiscal year. For others, the end of December will wrap up the end of their Q3, with a year end wrapping up at the end of March 2018. No matter – we’ve got a limited time as we close out 2017. No matter how lackluster the start, every business wants to finish having hit the forecasted numbers, building sales momentum to launch into 2018 and pile on as much profit as possible. Sixty days left to improve your key measurements is important. 
Every Day Counts. Every Person Counts.
There are some things we can do as business leaders to make full use of limited time. Like now. First, we can make sure to spread the positive message of making every day matter. Whether it’s accounting projects that need to be completed, or sales that need to be made – every day matters. More when we’ve got limited time. Everything is compressed and pressurized when there are only two months remaining. 
Don’t burn today because you’re going to experience some days where your mileage won’t be very good. The holiday season provides distractions. Distractions that you can’t ignore. Instead, you’re better off embracing them depending on the culture that you’re building, or maintaining. I hope your culture is high performance based. And I hope your employees are fully engaged, loving their work and mostly doing the best work of their lives. But that’s often idealistic. And it just isn’t happening. 
These are the days where you can really impact your culture. If you want to lead in the most positive way – and surely you do – then these are the days to show employees how much you care about them. As people. Every single day treat them as humans. It’s tempting to live by the “mush, mush” motto, behaving as though you’re driving a team of dogs in the Iditarod race. You’ll be tempted to think it’s the right strategy for getting the most out of your people, but it’s the fastest way to ruin good culture, or prevent yourself from ever establishing great culture. And you’ll lose your team, if not literally, emotionally and mentally. Don’t do it. 
Instead, make every day count by getting your people to connect and collaborate. Don’t ignore the need for people to provide insights and contribute to solutions that can make 2017 end on the highest notes possible. 
Try gathering people in brief sessions where you refrain from holding forth, but where you ask them how the company can take full advantage of the next 60 days. Nothing formal. You don’t want to put people on guard, especially if you’ve not been doing this regularly (what’s your problem?). Just stand up huddles where you ask people to give their ideas on things you can do TODAY, and every day as you do your best to finish the year as successfully as possible. 
Listen. Ask questions to make sure you clearly understand. Summarize what you hear them saying. Thank them. Genuinely and sincerely thank them. Don’t walk away without praising them.