It’s January, so let’s talk about something most business owners won’t admit out loud.
Your team is working hard. Really hard. And somehow, at the end of the quarter, the big things you cared about still didn’t happen. You had goals. You had initiatives. You probably even had a slide deck.
And yet here you are, staring at the calendar, wondering how three months disappeared without moving the company the way you wanted.
This is not a motivation problem. It’s not a talent problem. And it’s definitely not a “they didn’t listen” problem. It’s a leadership problem. The good kind. The fixable kind.
The Lie We Tell Ourselves About Leadership
Most leaders think pushing for results means telling people what to do.
More direction. More opinions. More “here’s how I would do it.”
That feels productive. It feels decisive. It also quietly kills ownership. I’ve learned this the hard way over 30 years of building companies. If you prescribe the work, you own the outcome. If they design the work, they own the outcome.
That distinction matters more than any quarterly goal framework you’ve ever read.
Direction Is Your Job. The How Is Theirs.
Quarterly goals matter. Initiatives matter. If you don’t believe that, go reread Good to Great and start over.
But this isn’t about why goals exist. It’s about why they don’t get finished. Here’s the formula that actually works.
You set the direction. The team designs the initiatives to get there. Think of it like steering a ship. You pick the destination. They row. You watch for icebergs and check the gauges. If you grab the oars, the whole system breaks.
The moment the team participates in designing the initiatives, something important happens. They stop executing orders and start solving problems.
Force a Plan, Not Forever, Just Fast
Once direction is clear, give them a short clock. Three days max.
Their job is to come back with a plan they believe in, not a perfect one. Speed matters here. Momentum matters more than polish.
Then comes the part most leaders skip. You don’t approve the plan. You interrogate it. Not aggressively. Intelligently.
Three Hard Questions Every Leader Should Ask
- “What specifically has to be true for this to succeed?”
- “What is most likely to break first?”
- “If this slips, how will we know early instead of at the end of the quarter?”
These questions do two things. They expose weak thinking, and they force the initiative owner to actually own reality.
Put the Plan in Front of Other Adults
Next step. Put the initiative owner in front of their peers. Not to embarrass them. To harden the plan.
Cross-functional review does something leadership alone cannot. It recruits buy-in. It surfaces blind spots. It quietly tells the organization, “This matters.”
Be intentional about who’s in the room. Every function touched by the initiative should be represented. Bonus points if you include someone who will actually have to do the work.
If the plan can survive that room, it’s ready.
Activity Is Not the Same as Progress
Now comes the reality check. Every initiative needs a documented outcome. Not a feeling. Something measurable.
At the end of the quarter, you should be able to say yes or no. We did it or we didn’t.
This is where many initiatives fail quietly. Teams plan activity, not outcomes. They stay busy and miss the point.
If the outcome doesn’t clearly move the company in the direction you set, it needs to change.
Weekly Huddles Are Where Leaders Earn Their Pay
This is the most important part. Weekly. Thirty minutes. No excuses.
Before the meeting, you review:
- The outcome
- The milestones
- The current status
Then you show up with questions, not answers.
Three Weekly Questions That Change Everything
- “What assumption are we making this week that could be wrong?”
- “What are we avoiding because it’s uncomfortable?”
- “What would success look like by next Friday, not next quarter?”
This meeting is not about status theater. It’s about course correction. This is where you separate progress from motion.
Sometimes deep discussion is required. When that happens, don’t hijack the huddle. Schedule a follow-up and keep the cadence intact.
Help Without Taking the Wheel
Here’s the hardest discipline for most leaders. Sometimes you will see the answer. That does not mean you should take the initiative away. When you do step in, your job is to help and then give it back.
Three Ways to Transition Ownership Back Cleanly
- “Here’s an idea to consider. Take it, pressure-test it, and tell me what you decide.”
- “I’m going to step in briefly to unblock this, then it’s yours again.”
- “You own this. I’ll support you, but I want you to come back next week with your recommendation.”
This keeps accountability where it belongs. With the initiative owner. Not with you.
The Quiet Truth About Results
Great leaders don’t drive results by talking more.
They drive results by asking better questions, holding clear outcomes, and creating a rhythm where progress is impossible to hide.
If your team is exhausted and nothing is finished, don’t push harder. Get quieter. Ask harder questions. And make ownership unavoidable. That’s how results actually happen in the organizations I’ve run.
