SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 210,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.
What’s your perspective going into 2017?
- It’s going to be a fantastic year: 39%
- It’s going to be a good year: 37%
- It’s going to be an OK year: 15%
- It’s going to be a bad year: 6%.
- It’s going to be a horrible year: 2%
Optimism Reigns. The majority of you are expecting a solidly good 2017. For those who are, I ask – what are you doing today to ensure the year turns out how you expect? Are you identifying risks and putting contingency plans in place? Are you investing in your people and their development? Are you monitoring competitive and market activities? For those who aren’t expecting a good year, what are you doing to change those expectations? What are the major obstacles you’re facing and what are you actively doing to remove them? It’s one thing to have an expectation for how a year will turn out. It’s another thing entirely to affect that outcome. I challenge all of you to take steps today to ensure 2017 is a great year for you.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS. Before launching his own company, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He’s the author of three leadership books: “One Piece of Paper,” “Lead Inside the Box,” and “The Elegant Pitch.”