Bringing Your Best Into the Fall Season: Turning Renewal Into Results
Respecting August as our vacation getaway month, this will be our only August blog post.
Each August, I notice the same feeling. Time moves more slowly when I’m at our beach house on Old Mission Peninsula in northern Michigan. Working from the deck, watching the boats traverse the beautiful bay, and taking time to be with Lynn and whichever of the twelve grandchildren are with us reminds me that the number of emails answered is not the measure of success in life. The pace is different enough that I once again reorient and see more clearly what is truly important. Then my mind turns to fall, not with anxiety but with anticipation.
This has been true for more than forty years; August has always felt like the start of a new season. Whether it meant preparing for another football season at the University of Michigan, or at FS/A, starting work with a new executive and their team or helping an organization clarify its culture and direction, August has never felt like the end of summer. It has always felt like a springboard to new opportunities. And as shared in our July blog posts, July can be amazing for our recovery, and hopefully it has been for you.
Now it’s time to put that renewed energy to work. A lesson I’ve learned, however, sometimes the hard way, is that taking time off doesn’t automatically change how we return to work. We can return from vacation rested and yet recreate the same overloaded calendar and unnecessary distractions.
Clarity of Purpose
Rest and recovery give us a chance to recalibrate our compass setting. Nothing changes…unless we see and act on the opportunity to change ourselves.
Over the years, I’ve also learned something from great coaches. When preseason practice began for the football team at University of Michigan, Coach Bo Schembechler didn’t try to install every play on the first day. Coach Lloyd Carr didn’t ask players to win the championship in August. The strategic focus was always on mastering fundamentals, building trust, and improving a little each day.
Championship seasons are not built by trying to do everything at once. They are built by a vision that guides doing the right things at the right time. Leadership is no different.
Prioritized Discipline
At FS/A, as we work with organizations across the country, we often see talented people exhausted, not because they lack commitment, but because they’re trying to juggle too many priorities at once. Energy dissipates in a chaotic atmosphere. Meetings multiply without progress. Momentum is lost.
The best teams simplify. They become crystal clear about their shared vision and what matters most with a limited set of priorities. That takes discipline, which brings clarity to the decision that something important deserves our best attention every day.
Collaboration
It also requires collaboration. I’ve never been part of a championship team or an exceptional leadership team where one person carried the load. Success always came when people trusted one another enough to contribute their unique strengths and put the mission first.
Respect
Underlying that collaboration is something even more important: respect. More than politeness, respect is believing in the fundamental value of every person. It’s listening before speaking. It’s assuming positive intent. It’s recognizing that great ideas can come from anywhere in the organization.
Creating Flow
When purpose, discipline, collaboration, and respect come together, something remarkable happens. Work begins to flow. Problems become opportunities. People start pulling in the same direction rather than protecting their own interests. The work becomes energizing rather than exhausting.
I’ve seen this play out across athletic teams, healthcare organizations, family businesses, universities, and nonprofit boards. The organizations that flourish aren’t necessarily the ones with the greatest talent. They’re the ones where people are aligned around a common purpose and disciplined enough to pursue it together.
As I look toward this fall, I find myself asking the same questions we pose to the leaders we coach:
- What really matters?
- Where can I make the greatest difference?
- What should I stop doing so I can fully invest in what matters most?
We gradually learn that success is about doing what matters most, with people we trust, to serve a shared purpose. It isn’t about doing more.
As we move from the renewal of summer into the opportunities of fall, let’s not simply return to work and pick up where we left off. Let’s start anew with:
- greater clarity
- fewer priorities
- discipline
- generous collaboration
- a commitment to treat one another with respect
In doing so, success becomes less about pushing harder and more about creating the conditions in which excellence emerges.
Reflection
As you ramp up for fall, consider the following three questions:
- What single action will make the greatest difference in creating a successful fall?
- What do I need to stop doing to give it the priority attention it warrants?
- How can I help create an environment where discipline, collaboration, and respect help everyone around me see the same priority?
In addition to recovery, rest provides the space for insights that enable us to return to work ready to have a positive impact.
Enjoy the rest of August, and we will see you in September.
If you have challenges you would like insights on how best to handle, please send them over, and we may create a blog for you.
