A new year is upon us. It is a time when resolutions are often made and broken within the same week. The eyes and ears of our team members are watching with bated breath, hoping some of the resolutions that stick are about them.

It’s also a time when we company leaders can find (free!) solid advice from the best of the best to identify and adopt the resolutions for leading and building a thriving company in 2016. Jack Welch, Executive Chairman of the Jack Welch Management Institute, released a resolution challenge to leaders: the number one resolution leaders, he writes, should be tackling every day (which is very much in your direct control) is increasing employee engagement.

To narrow down what you can do to improve employee engagement, Mr. Welch recommends asking yourself the following questions:

• Has my team really bought into the mission?
• Do they understand where we’re going, and why we’re doing what we do to get there?  Equally important, or perhaps more important, have I made it clear to them what’s in it for them when we get there?
• Am I celebrating their achievements, reaching the milestones we’ve established?
• Am I coaching them in a constructive manner so that they feel I have their back?
• Do they always know where they stand?
• Have I given them the freedom and the authority to raise these same questions with their team?

Powerful questions for a good reflection on your contribution to employee engagement, aren’t they?

Don’t stop there; I suggest asking yourself (and other company leaders) a few additional questions:

• How committed are my team members? How do I know this?
• What can I do to communicate with them in a way that they need?
• What is the ongoing feedback loop so I can continue to learn and make adjustments if necessary?
• What will I do to celebrate the achievements of our team and company?

Think of the power those answers can give you. The answers will identify where to focus in 2016.

If you are looking for a more successful year in your business, reduce the number of resolutions on exercise and eating less sweets, and put your time and energy into building employee engagement. The synergy of those heads, hands, and hearts of your people being engaged to sell and serve your customers will pay off for years to come.

p.s. I wanted to title this post, If It’s Good Enough for Jack Welch…It Should Be for You. Would you have read it?

 If you really want some tough questions answered about your sales organization, check out the salesforce grader here:

The answers aren’t for the faint of heart and will clearly identify how much you can grow, how long it will take, and prioritize what it will take to get there.

How do you strengthen this "Will" among your sales associates? How does the lack of drive impact your daily life? I discussed this and so much more on a recent virtual training event you can access below. It's valuable information for any business leader who needs to maximize performance of their people to grow their company.

Click here to access the replay.