Dear Friends,
We are embarking on our fourth year at Applied Leadership Partners, which means it’s time to share our third annual letter! If you haven’t been following along thus far, you can check out our letters from 2020 and 2021, but here’s a very quick recap of where we’ve been and how it’s gone.
We launched our business in March of 2020 and within 2 days of our website going live, the world totally shut down, our first four gigs canceled, and we were left wondering if we’d ever even get off the ground. But since we couldn’t do much else during lockdown, we stuck with it and adopted the theme of “Respect the moment, be generous”. By the time summer was over we’d written a bunch, done a number of pro-bono (or deeply discounted) engagements and figured out how to teach, coach, and facilitate over Zoom. By the end of the year, we had some awesome partnerships in place, were doing meaningful work, making a few bucks - and decided to keep it going!
Leaning into 2021 with some momentum, we felt a little like the dog that caught the car - so we decided that our theme for the year was “Get in!”. It was a year of significant growth as our client base grew both wider and deeper. We were able to really clarify our offering and systemize our approach, which actually allowed us to provide even more customized solutions to the organizations that we served. At the end of our second year, it was clear that we had a real business on our hands. The work was making a serious impact, we were being challenged to stretch our abilities, and we were having a blast doing it.
So going into 2022, we felt proud of ourselves and confident in our future, AND a little overwhelmed by the prospect of continued growth. Looking back, the year was a bit of a blur. Candidly, we failed to have an honest-to-goodness strategy session, though we committed to a theme from the onset: “Do. The. Work.” And while we did continue to refine our process and tighten up the business, we rarely stopped to take a breath and look up. We really would have liked to have written and shared more than we did in 2022, but we didn’t because we were totally swamped with creating and delivering programs for our clients - what we call a “high quality problem”. We wanted to get a book deal and hire a person or two and improve our marketing, but we just never quite had the gas to make any big moves. And while we did secure a literary agent, bring in a couple friends to help on a big project, and make some strides with our website and social media, there is still A LOT of meat on the bone.
All stated, the big headline was that our business is working and our lives are full! Our current clients have consistently invited us back and word-of-mouth has brought a number of new partners through the door. Our revenue increased by over 77% and though it was stressful at times, our little business has been getting nothing but green lights. Upon reflection, there’s a serious lesson here.
I used to have a basketball coach in 6th grade that would say, “when you run a play and it works, you run it again, and you keep running it until they stop you.” So simple, yet so profound. In a world where we all feel like we should be doing more and our business should be growing faster and everyone else is crushing it; it is important to pause, stand back, and assess the things that really matter. Continue to keep your purpose front and center, take stock of how far you have come, learn from all the ups and downs, and charge on with new insights. Sometimes you just need to keep doing what’s working and give it time.
It may go without saying, but we are pumped about 2023! We’re approaching this year with enthusiasm and joy, and we hope it comes through (and we’re happy to share that our 2023 Strategy Session is on the books for early February - in Breckenridge…it won’t suck). Here’s a short list of some of the things that we are most excited about this year.
Continue to deepen our relationships. We have a handful of clients that we’ve been with for over two years and we really feel like part of the team. We have loved being able to consistently engage with leaders and teams through a combination of training, coaching, and facilitation and we believe that everyone truly benefits from this model. The trust and confidence that these organizations put in us mean everything, and we’re pumped to keep moving down the trail with them.
Scaling up. The truth is, we spent much of 2022 on planes and in airports and while traveling and being face-to-face is how we prefer to spend time with people, we simply can’t be on the road 40 weeks a year. We already have a bunch of work booked for the first half (which is awesome) and we definitely want to work with new companies and teams. So we’re working on ways to deliver value in more scalable ways. That might look like a little more virtual engagement. It might involve adding some teammates. We’ve also built an amazing, 12-module, Leadership Development Program that is delivered through a series of short videos with an accompanying workbook. If you’re looking for a highly effective AND scalable way to bring leadership development to your enterprise, restaurant chain, or retail business, we’d love to talk with you about it, so drop us a line here.
Write and share more. We love to think deeply, converse openly, and share generously - and we need to be more intentional about it. In 2023, we will be more disciplined and consistent when it comes to our blog, social media, and book. There’s no shortage of ideas and insights at this point, we just need to focus on this aspect of our practice and make it happen. We really appreciate everybody that reads and shares our stuff. It feels awesome to know that we’re adding something to the conversation. We commit to doing it more seriously in the coming year.
This past year, many organizations experienced the flip-side of COVID-19 and the incredible economic growth of 2021. In 2022 we saw businesses deal with significant financial pressures and the changes that naturally accompany such pressure. Our partners have navigated reductions in force, organizational realignments, shifts in strategic plans, and leader burnout.
To that point, some key topics on the horizon that we are already preparing for in 2023 include:
More consolidation and reorganization as companies experience financial pressure
Sales force optimization and reinforcing the basics of business development
Establishing clear priorities and focus
Aligning (or re-aligning) teams to move forward after change
Leading people through uncertainty and adversity
Applying practical leadership and communication skills
To start wrapping things up, we want to take a few lines to thank and honor our families, who have been a bottomless source of support and inspiration for our work. They have put up with our travel schedules, encouraged us to press on, and thrown a flag when we need to chill out. Their love and wellbeing is why we do this and Applied Leadership Partners is nothing without them.
The past year was one of many highs and plenty of lows. We’ve been tested at work and at home. We’ve said goodbye to loved ones and made some new friends along the way. By way of updates:
Brandon and Kelly are now empty-nesters, losing Elliot to the University of Colorado and Jaden to the US Army Infantry. This new arrangement has presented its fair share of both opportunities and difficulties, but the whole crew is doing great and figuring it out together!
Blayne and Jeni, on the other hand, are in the thick of raising three school-aged children and all that comes with it. It’s a life full of birthday parties and dance lessons and trips to the mountain bike park - fast, fun, and exhausting.
Finally, we want to thank you. It is impossible to overstate how much the support and encouragement from our friends and colleagues means to us. Every time we get a thoughtful note or a generous introduction it reminds us of what it feels like to do work that matters. We wish all of you a very Happy New Year and we hope that you’ll find enthusiasm and joy in the year ahead. See you on the trail!
All our best,
Blayne and Brandon
