On April 14th, 1978, Bernie Marcus, CEO of the Handy Dan Home Improvement Center, was fired! Stunned by this unsuspecting blow, he thought about suing his former company. A friend of his, Sol Price, founder of Price Club, asked him if he really wanted to spend his life in litigation or let go of the pain and move on. Bernie decided to let go and moved on with a plan of his which led to the creation of Home Depot.

As the new year approaches, you should be planning your goals for the new year. As part of the plan, ask yourself: “Do My Actions Support my Goals”? If you want to accomplish better results next year, you will need to ratchet up your efforts and possibly do new new things. Bernie Marcus realized he would only be wasting a lot of time and money suing his former employer. There was a bigger return waiting for him by directing his energies into another cause.

Here are the top 10 questions you should be asking yourself in evaluating your personal leadership skills for the New Year:

1)As a leader, are you concentrating on things that really matter or wasting time on things that are more comfortable than productive?

2) Are you spending enough time in front of the right customers or are you simply calling on people whom you feel comfortable talking to?

3) Are you closing business that is profitable and makes sense for your business, or are you closing business that is easy to get?

4) Are you leaving money on the table because you were out negotiated and/or unprepared?

5) Are you calling on higher level decision makers where possible to expand your scope of opportunities?

6) Are you increasing the level of conversation with existing customers to uncover more opportunities?

7) Do you hold yourself accountable for your own success and eliminate all excuses?

8) Are your keeping yourself mentally and physically in shape to meet the demands of the stiff competition?

9) Are you honing your skills to perform at optimum levels?

10) Are you measuring your results on a timely basis so you can make modifications as needed to achieve your 2005 goals?

Remember, personal leadership starts and ends with YOU!!!