Leading Greats #27

Saturday September 23, 2023 - marks the Fall Equinox this year

What Is the Autumnal Equinox?

The autumnal equinox is an astronomical event that marks the start of autumn (or “fall”). In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs in September; in the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs in March. 

What Is an Equinox?

During an equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun crosses the equator going from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox.

In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the reverse.

After the autumnal equinox, days become shorter than nights as the Sun continues to rise later and nightfall arrives earlier.

This ends with the winter solstice, after which days start to grow longer once again. 

Now weather patterns shift. Here at home in the San Francisco Bay Area we had our first chilly evening of the season last night.

It feels like Fall now.

A few things worth keeping in mind - now as the weather changes, it is also FLU season.

I take the FLU shot annually.

One Christmas holiday well before Covid I caught some horrific respiratory bug that landed me in the hospital for the holiday. Not fun.

Keep self-care in mind at all times.

We are approaching 4th quarter 2023

I hope you had an amazing year so far!

If for whatever reason your results fell short of your plans - there is still a quarter left to make big worthy strides in 2023.

I like to do a quarterly review of where I am and where I want to be in a specific amount of time.

It is about time for a 3rd Quarter review and plan for the 4th Quarter.

Here are a few key components to consider if you are doing a quarterly review:

1. Goal Setting:Identify specific and clear goals for the 4th quarter.Goals should be aligned with your long-term objectives, whether in your personal life or work.

2. Review of Previous Quarters:Reflect on the milestones and achievements, along with challenges of the previous quarters.Analyze what worked and what did not and learn from those outcomes.

3. Financial Planning:Look back at your financial performance for the recent three quarters to see if you are on track for annual financial goals.There is time to adjust financial strategy for the 4th quarter if needed.

4. Strategic Planning:Assess your overall strategy and make any desired or necessary adjustments. Consider competition, trends, and changes in your industry that may impact your strategy.

5. Priority Setting:Determine 4th quarter top priorities. Focus on the tasks and projects that will have the most significant impact on your goals.

6. Action Plans:Break down your goals into actionable steps and create a detailed plan for how to achieve them during the 4th quarter.Get deadlines and assign responsibilities.

7. Risk Assessment:Identify potential risks and challenges that may arise during the 4th quarter. Develop contingency plans to mitigate these risks.

8. Performance Metrics:Define key performance indicators - KPIs to measure progress toward your goals. Track and assess your performance against these metrics regularly.

9. Communication and Collaboration:Ensure that all team members or relevant stakeholders are aware of the 4th quarter plans and the roles they play in achieving the goals.Foster open communication and collaboration.

10. Personal Development:In the context of personal life planning, consider areas of personal growth and development you want to focus on during the 4th quarter. This could include health, relationships, or building skills.

11. Celebrate Achievements:Acknowledge and celebrate your achievements, both big and small, as you progress through the 4th quarter.This can boost motivation and morale.

12. Assess and Adapt:Schedule regular check-ins throughout the next quarter to review progress and make any necessary adjustments to your plans. In successful planning flexibility is key.

Quarterly planning is an iterative process, and the 4th quarter planning is no exception.

By following these key components, you can effectively set and achieve your goals, whether in your personal life or in your work/business, and adapt to changing circumstances as needed.

I have been on a few recent Podcasts

Here is the latest one - it is a brief review of my background and how I chose to do the work that I do in Leadership Coaching.

Podcast: https://dharmicevolution.com/397-ronnie-h-kinsey-leadership-catalyst-transforming-culture-with-empathy/

^ As a Strategic Leadership Catalyst and Executive Coach I help highly motivated professionals transform culture through human centered empathy.

^ I help leaders master performance and well-being.

^ If this sounds like you, your organization, or someone you know - I can help.

The World Needs More Great Leaders!

One of the big challenges in work and leadership is time management and focus. 

The Pareto Principle, A.K.A. the 80/20 Rule, offers that 80% of our outputs/outcomes come from 20% of our inputs/causes.

Richard Koch who wrote the book “The 80/20 Principle” puts it best how to gain the most from our efforts - here are a few key points as we begin to taper off the year:

• Hard work leads to low returns.

• The road to hell is paved with the pursuit of volume.

• Insight and doing what we want leads to high returns.

• Volume leads to marginal products, marginal customers, and greatly increased managerial complexity.

• Strive for excellence in a few things, rather than good performance in many.

• It is not shortage of time that should worry us, but the tendency for the majority of time to be spent in low-quality ways.

• The 80/20 principle says that if we doubled our time on the top 20 percent of activities, we could work a two-day week and achieve 60 percent more than now.

That is all - for this issue - of Leading Greats!

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Til next time - Keep it Great,

-Ronnie

• Leadership Catalyst & Transformational Coach

• Healthcare Leader | Advisor | Speaker

• Schedule a strategy call for working together @ ronniekinsey.net

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronniekinseymba/