A little over 20 years ago, Death Cab for Cutie released an album, “Transatlanticism.”

One of the top tracks on the record was called “New Year” and has a line that goes, “This is the new year, and I don’t feel any different.”

Maybe it’s etched in my mind because of the phase of life I was in when it came out, but every time we turn the calendar to a new year, I find myself reciting this line in all sorts of situations.

For some people, this line penned and performed by Ben Gibbard will be true – simply maintaining the status quo will be enough.

But if you’re reading this newsletter, I know that’s not you. You want something better than last year, something improved, something more. You want change.

The most effective leaders know and acknowledge that the root of change in their organizations lies within themselves first.

And so, as you sit down on the first Friday of this new year, it’s crucial to objectively assess how we as leaders interact with our teams and set proper expectations.

If we aren’t modeling the type of behaviors we want our teams to possess, we can’t expect them to be any different.

Team performance mirrors leadership performance.

I recognize that this isn’t a revelation. You were just as annoyed at your parent when they told you to ‘do as I say, not as I do’ when you were young. You know that you are creating culture. But you are busy and you are working slightly less in the business than on it these days. And it’s not just work that pulls your attention. You are a parent, a child, a sibling, a community leader and so much more than just an executive. All of these priorities are vying for your attention, your thoughtfulness, your dedication.

In the middle of all of these tasks that need you, you’re supposed to be developing those around you to grow into the duties that are currently assigned to you.

The adage I come back to all the time goes something like: it takes 5-7x more time to teach a task than it does yourself. If this is true, the amount of time you need to pass on a skill and multiply your impact might feel immense. Perhaps the key lies in being willing to invest the time in teaching the right skills to the right people to have maximum impact.

This is where having the correct tools in place is critical.

What tools are you using to document your processes, your workflows, your thoughts so that you can consistently deliver excellence?

I’ve shared this tool before, but Loom has completely changed the game for my companies. It’s still my go-to asynchronous communication tool.

I love Fathom and Otter for capturing transcripts and moving from spoken words to print. I use Slack to deliver these thoughts to my teams and colleagues.

As we move through this year, let’s embrace the opportunity for positive change by modeling desired behaviors, teaching both the why and the how of our work effectively, and leveraging technology to scale.

May our journeys include progress, focus, and consistent delivery.

With that, Happy 2024! Here’s to a year of transformative change.