what’s august for?
I’m going to immediately acknowledge that, on the face of it, this is a ridiculous question. August is when an abundance of fruit, vegetables and other crops are brought in from the fields. It’s when the proper football starts again and, at least where I live, it’s when the schools return after what feels like about six months off. It’s when everyone talks about there being no rain while knowing – deep down – that the wettest winter on record is probably just around the corner.
It’s also a time when a lot of people switch off, go away and embrace a break from the usual routine ahead of the big first-week-of-September restart.
As a leader, I sometimes found this time to be a bit unsettling. I’m admitting that because I know I wasn’t alone in that feeling and because it also felt wrong to acknowledge. It’s heading towards the middle of the working year, you’re looking at budgets, how your teams are developing, how much of your annual plan you’ve still got to deliver and the tension is ratcheting up a bit. People are coming back from their summer breaks ‘refreshed’ but also, if they’re honest with themselves, a little bit panicked about how much there is to do.
Stepping back, though, there’s a different way to look at this time of year and one – if I’m honest – I didn’t embrace enough over the last few years. It’s probably the single biggest opportunity to refocus, to sharpen up the edges if plans are getting a bit unclear and to ask yourself what you and your team need in order to complete the year with clarity, courage and credibility. But we rarely – myself included – make the time to do this when the temptation is to come back, put your head down and blast through the day-to-day.
Perhaps you or some in your team could do with some alternative perspective, challenge and support. Maybe you need some independent or alternative thinking to help you plot out the next six months and beyond. Or maybe you have a growing ‘this is too hard to deal with at the moment’ pile on your desk which means you’re coming back to work with trepidation rather than clarity.
If any of that sounds like how you’re feeling while you’re still on holiday, braving the school shoes shopping trip, procrastinating over your fantasy football picks, I can help. I’ve been there. Through coaching or mentoring I can give you that time to refocus and help you feel more ready to tackle what needs to be done with clarity, courage and credibility. Find out more about how I can support and how others have benefited from my insight and experience by exploring my new website or dropping me a line. Let’s work out what August is for together.