2025, a Year to be Bold
Fortune favors the bold, goes the proverb.
As we kick off 2025, a lot of people are busy making, or trying hard to keep, new year resolutions. And a lot will fail, an estimated 80% within two months, because we just don’t set ourselves up for success.
Resolving to do one thing or another is often rooted in regret or outsized ambition. I find that intention setting over resolutions has a better rate of success, at least for me. Intentions allow me to focus less on self-scoring or hitting some crazy goal and more on being intentional with my time, energy, and relationships.
So anyway – hello, 2025. This is a year to be bold, if ever there was one.
Three things really dominated our business last year: AI, media shifts, and the economy. I’m deliberately not going to mention the fact it was an election year, which surely had an impact on our industry, as did other world events. Change was in the air.
After a quarter century working in tech, if there’s one constant I know, it’s change.
Business is often a rollercoaster, and we’ve done plenty of recession- and future-proofing in our business that enables us to ride out the ups and downs. Market volatility is nothing new, and every tech company still needs a voice and a presence, I’d argue more now than ever.
Thankfully the year is off to a busy start, and we’re embracing one of our core values as our north star leading us into 2025: Be bold.
Here are some of my thoughts on bold in business:
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Everyone may be tired of me repeating this mantra, but can you argue with it? It’s important to see failure as an opportunity to learn. You can’t fail if you don’t even try! I’ve used this one a lot as my kids tried new things, or we moved through the college applications process a second time, and I turn to it anytime I’m feeling hesitant about business, too. So take the shot!
Take chances. Boldness is written into our name: Offleash means pushing boundaries, leaping around the competition, whether our own or our clients. Bold isn’t merely weathering a storm, it’s running right into it, taking on new challenges, new technologies, and new things we haven’t tried before. This is no time to pull back on communications strategy; it’s time to get loud.
Ask “why.” At Offleash, we question everything, and equally important, ask how can we do better? Just because something has been done one way before is no reason to continue doing it the same. For example, we took December to evaluate everything – every single tool, investment, subscription, partner, keeping those that still serve us and improving the rest. So we kick off this year with new services and practice areas, a new HR and accounting model, and a new company-wide platform.
Get inspired. I’m at my best when I surround myself with different points of view. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, who think differently, and who inspire and stretch your thinking. Groupthink is not the way. Moving from a fixed to growth mindset has been pivotal to expanding both my personal and professional worlds and my everyday thinking.
Be accountable. The impact of our work needs to align with business priorities. We dig into what matters most to our clients’ business and are quick to drop what isn’t moving the needle and double down on what is. Like anything worth doing, it’s important to bake accountability in from the start. Put a plan in place complete with actions, owners, and outcomes. When we don’t do that, good intentions get replaced with whatever is the squeaky wheel that day.
So…Take the chance. Take on the competition. Run the campaign everyone thinks is crazy. Make the hard decisions. Try something new. Get out of your comfort zone.
Be bold.
Have advice to share about being bold in 2025? Write to me at robin@offleashpr.com.