Finish the Year Strong: 7 Actionable Tips for Business Leaders Inspired by the 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders Podcast series

Lessons from Great Leaders That You Can Implement Now

As the final few months of 2024 approach, business leaders are presented with a crucial opportunity to reflect, recalibrate, and drive forward. This period is not just about meeting end-of-year targets but amplifying leadership approaches and inspiring teams to finish the year strong. But how can we truly make an impact in these last few months to set ourselves and our teams up for success in 2025?

To finish the year strong, business leaders should focus on mastering their energy, fostering intentionality, and leveraging proven leadership tools to inspire teams and drive operational excellence. These actions will help leaders overcome the pressures of year-end and start the new year from a place of strength.

Keep reading as we distil 7 actionable tips from the 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders podcast, combining lessons from great leaders, with our essential Breakthrough Tools©, that will guide you in making a lasting impact before the year is through.

1. Master Your Energy to Lead with Impact 

At Breakthrough, we recognise that we all have an internal energy thermostat. This is the mechanism that controls the amount and type of energy we emit, and we have 3 settings – ‘Turned Off’, ‘Guess So’, and ‘Full On’. As we reach the end of the year, end-of-year deadlines and holiday demands contribute to increased stress, with 38% of workers reporting that their stress levels rise during this period. And high-stress correlates with reduced employee engagement. 

With that in mind, Lara Brans, DE&I leadership expert in our Leading with Diversity episode emphasises the importance of energy, and making sure that as leaders, our energy thermostat is ‘Full On’. "Positive energy is extremely contagious. But you can’t expect that from others if you do not exude it yourself."

Actionable Tip: Prioritise your energy management. Use the Full On Breakthrough Tool©, where you commit to tasks fully and energetically. Take control of your personal energy, whether by ensuring adequate sleep, carving out time for exercise, or scheduling short breaks after high-stress meetings. These small but intentional steps will ripple throughout your team, helping them stay energised and aligned as the year closes.

The Full On Breakthrough Tool© encourages leaders to ask Should I give this task a Full On Yes, or a Full On No? Avoid half-hearted commitments or "guess so" moments. By dedicating yourself fully, you create a powerful example for your team to follow.

Lara Brans's 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders' episode.  

2. Lead with Intentionality: Be Present in Every Task

Similarly to our energy thermostat, we can also tune into our Personal Power Tools - or our ability to turn our intentions into reality, WITHOUT controlling, manipulating or dominating others. Another valuable Breakthrough Tool © in our personal wheelhouse is ‘Intentionality’ which occurs when we focus consciously on our intentions and take actions that support those intentions. Brans advises, "If I’m going to do something, I want to give it my all—otherwise, I’m wasting my time."

Actionable Tip: Start practising intentionality in every task. Implement the 3 I’s of this powerful Breakthrough Tool ©,  Insight, Inspiration, and Intentionality to ensure that each action you take is purpose-driven and impactful. Over the next three months, challenge yourself to increase your focus by 5-10% in meetings, decision-making, and planning. By being more present and intentional, you inspire the same mindset in your team, boosting collective performance.

3. Foster Creativity with Structured Feedback

A recent Gallup survey found that 37% of managers find it difficult to give employees feedback, yet without feedback, how can we expect anyone to improve their performance? In the Nurturing Creativity episode, Global CMO of EY John Rudaizky, stresses the importance of structured, empowering feedback; "the biggest barrier to nurturing creative ideas is the interactions between each other."

Actionable Tip: Implement the Breakthrough Feedback Framework©. When giving feedback, start by highlighting what’s working, what’s not working yet, what’s missing, and what’s possible. This framework fosters an environment where ideas can thrive, and team members feel supported rather than criticised. By creating a safe space for innovation, you lay the groundwork for more creative breakthroughs heading into 2025.

4. Cultivate a Learning Mindset in Your Team To Improve Performance

Organisations and leaders that cultivate a learning culture are 46% more likely to be leaders in their industry. And employees who regularly engage in L&D are 39% more likely to feel fulfilled and motivated at work, according to LinkedIn Learnings 2023 Workplace report. 

So let’s embrace the advice from CEO and Co-Founder of Amazing If, Helen Tupper, in the Squiggly Careers episode; "Start with mindset. Does this individual or organisation have a learning mindset? Are they open, curious?"

Actionable Tip: Embed a learning culture using the Breakthrough Tool © Mindsets. Encourage self-coaching behaviours and curiosity within your team. Create opportunities for them to learn new skills—whether through workshops, online courses, or peer coaching. Over the next few months, focus on fostering an open, growth-oriented environment, empowering individuals to continuously develop and evolve.

By integrating the Breakthrough Mindset©, you can help team members shift from a resigned or cynical mindset to a magical and heroic one, driving them to approach challenges with creativity and optimism.

5. Turn Failures into Growth Opportunities

While many of us might want to see the sprint to the end of the year as a time for all-out success, we should not underestimate the value of failure. As Tupper wisely shares, "Failure helps me to push the boundaries and do things that others haven’t done before." And Breakthrough Global founder Dr. Bart Sayle, echoes, "I’ve had businesses that fail, but I’m not a failure. It’s that that failed."

Actionable Tip: Adopt the Breakdowns to Breakthroughs© Tool. Rather than fearing failure, celebrate and declare breakdowns as opportunities for growth. Create a culture of trust by openly discussing missteps and what your team can learn from them. Encourage leaders to share personal failures and the lessons learned, transforming failure into a path for success.

Helen Tupper's 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders' episode.  

6. Drive Operational Excellence by Removing Friction

CEO of Kiko Milano, Simone Domenici highlighted the importance of streamlined operations in our Culture Never Sleeps episode; "Retail is more about the juicer... making sure the operational excellence in any aspect of the customer journey is frictionless."

Tackling business-critical challenges such as driving down costs and streamlining organisational operations can feel like huge tasks and may feel over-facing, especially for the last quarter of the calendar year. But, as with any challenge, when we break it down and spend short periods of time concentrating on the task rather than having long and tedious meetings and projects, we shift our relationship with time. This enables us to generate considerable results in a very short period. At Breakthrough, this is what we call Power Time © . 

Actionable Tip: Use the Power Time Breakthrough Tool© to refine operational processes. Focus on delivering clear outcomes in meetings, reducing distractions, and eliminating unnecessary tasks. Set aside time for evaluating where friction can be removed, whether in customer interactions or internal operations, to enhance efficiency and satisfaction.

Simone Dominici's 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders' episode.  

7. We’re all in this Together: Collaborate for Greater Impact

There’s no time like the present. And while many leaders might be purely focused on looking inwardly at themselves and their organisations, let’s not forget what’s happening around us so that we can really, truly inspire, collaborate and make an impact at every level. As John Rudaizky notes, "We’re all in a wider ecosystem... To address world issues like sustainability, we have to collaborate like never before."

Actionable Tip: Create your desired future. Begin forming partnerships—whether with other businesses or even competitors—to tackle larger societal challenges, such as sustainability. Over the next quarter, reach out to like-minded organisations and initiate collaboration. Not only are you doing the right thing, this also positions your company as a leader in corporate responsibility and sets the stage for long-term brand strength.

John Rudaizky's 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders' episode.  

Conclusion: Finish the Year with Purpose

As you navigate the final quarter, remember that leadership is about mastering your energy, inspiring your team, and being intentional with your actions. The 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders podcast offers a treasure trove of wisdom—now it's time to put it into practice. Whether you’re building a more creative environment, collaborating on global issues, or fostering operational excellence, these Breakthrough Tools© and lessons from great leaders will help guide you to success.

For more insights, tune in to the 3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders podcast, and equip yourself with the strategies to lead your organisation to a strong year-end finish.