By Susanne Biro

Welcome to 2009. As you think of the year ahead, what are your first thoughts? Before reading further, take out a blank sheet of paper and write them down. Write all the thoughts you have about the coming year. Do not censor yourself - simply capture whatever comes to mind on paper so that you can more fully know in what direction you are focused.
•    Write about what you believe 2009 will mean for you personally (think of your health, finances, relationships, career, spiritual and personal development),
•    Write about what you believe it will mean for your family (your partner, your children, and other loved ones), and finally,
•    Write about the implications you believe 2009 will have on your organization (your company’s brand, bottom line, long-term future, and access to resources and opportunities).

Now, reflect on everything you wrote.

As you read over your thoughts and see them in black and white, how do you feel? Are you excited at what you believe lies ahead? Or, do you find yourself anxious, fearful and overwhelmed? Perhaps you experience some combination of the two.

It is important to remember that it is never what happens, but rather, how we respond to what happens that defines us. Indeed, our character is most often revealed during difficult times. When things are good, it is easy to be visionary, optimistic, positive, giving, motivated and driven. It is only when we face significant challenges, are beaten down, have little or no resources, and lack any tangible evidence to believe we can overcome the obstacles we face, that we have the opportunity to fully demonstrate who we are and what we have to offer.

For better or worse, this is the year your character will be revealed.

What, then, will 2009 reveal about you? What can your people expect from you? And perhaps most importantly, will you be proud come 2010 of the kind of leader and person you’ve become?

Re-read all you wrote down, therein will lay your answer.

Make no mistake; leadership is an inside-out game. The only way to grow as a leader is to grow as a person, and we humans grow most when we experience set-backs, failures, and are forced to work through problems and manage complicated dilemmas that have no easy answers.

Do you see the opportunity 2009 is presenting you and your organization? If not, look again.

The economy is going to do what it will do; so much of this is simply out of your hands and unnecessarily focusing on it is a distraction you cannot afford. As the saying goes, “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two.”

In Good to Great, Jim Collins cites how Admiral James Stockdale helped his men survive imprisonment in the Hanoi Hilton.  First, he said he had to “confront the brutal facts of the current reality”, and second, he had to retain the faith they could prevail - despite the difficulties. Stockdale has been quoted as saying, “I boil it down to this. Leadership is a two part job: Define reality and offer hope.” During challenging times (read: now), the latter becomes increasingly important. Politics aside, what Barack Obama has provided Americans (and people the world over) is, more than anything else, a sense of hope. He made us believe (again) that we can make tomorrow better than today.

Consider This:
•    What is possible for you, your business, and ultimately, your organization in 2009?
•    What is in your and your people’s power to achieve and become this year?
•    What can you do to make tomorrow better than today?

An opportunity of gigantic proportions awaits you. Your job is to find this opportunity and enroll others in your vision. You cannot afford to miss all this year is offering you and your organization.

Susanne Biro is the Director of Leadership Coaching and co-author of Unleashed! Expecting Greatness andOther Secrets of Coaching for Exceptional Performance. She can be reached at susannebiro@bluepointleadership.com