When you reach the midpoint of the year, it’s essential to be transparent with your team about where the company stands.
“In my mind, nothing that we ever do, whether it be success or failure, should come as a surprise to anybody in my organization,” says Brodey Mann, vice president of Blue Marble Landscape, based in Mesa, Arizona.
While it can be tempting to avoid sharing bad numbers to avoid demoralizing your team, things can only be turned around when everyone knows what they are working towards.
“When you’re not getting there, it’s a good coaching opportunity,” Mann says. “You need to be prepared with a why. I think that, as a leader, it is your responsibility to convey a message about why and how we got here and how we’re going to get out of it, as opposed to just saying ‘We’re not getting there. You need to do better. You need to work harder.’ That’s not leadership. Anybody can do that.”
Mann says the number one thing is not to blame others, as you will lose credibility with your team. He recommends exuding a calm confidence and sharing the information from an educational standpoint.
Gilly Artigues, president of Pleasant Places, Inc., based in Charleston, South Carolina, acknowledges that it’s a challenge to prevent the team from being discouraged if the business is missing certain goals.
“We push our team to learn and stay positive and understand business is a game played live,” says Brian Mark, partner and president of Chris Mark and Sons, Inc., based in Pocasset, Massachusetts. “With our system, we have the chance to make adjustments weekly and hopefully see some recovery by Q4 at worst in most scenarios. If we didn’t do those regular forecasts and assessments, we would be out of time and luck by the end of the year.”
Artigues says sometimes it helps to remind the team of how far they’ve come as an organization.
On the other hand, when your team is outperforming your goals by mid-year, it’s important to celebrate those achievements.
“Everyone likes to feel recognized and appreciated for the contribution to the company’s goals,” Artigues says. “It’s important that you acknowledge and celebrate the people who make it possible.”
Mann and Mark both have bonus programs that reward employees for reaching certain goals.
“If all goes to plan, we have a group celebration and hand out bonuses 6-8 weeks after we close a quarter and verify our numbers,” Mark says. “Handing out those bonus checks is a blast. It doesn’t always happen but when it does it is so gratifying.”
Mann doesn’t recommend moving the goalpost if you are on track to exceed your objectives.
“If we sat down at the beginning of the year and we felt like this is an accurate forecast, and if we hit this goal, it would be something that we would be proud of, it would be a success for our company,” Mann says. “I think if you’re trying to say, ‘Hey, you’re great, we’re moving the quota up’ that can be disheartening.”
Artigues adds that it’s never over until it’s over.
“Just like in sports, just because you have a big lead, it doesn’t mean you’ve won until the game is over,” Artigues says. “It’s good to be happy about doing your job well, but complacency is the enemy.”
Advice for Others
Mann says the worst thing you can do is panic if you are missing the mark at mid-year. Always dive in deeper to determine the root cause of a certain metric falling behind your projections.
“Things are never as good as they seem, nor are they as bad as they seem,” Artigues says. “Stay focused and encourage involvement from key members of the team.”
Mark agrees you should ask for help from your team, as they may have some good ideas you didn’t consider.
“Implement as soon as possible and assess results as frequently as is reasonable,” Mark says. “Learn from all of it when planning 2026.”
Mann recommends taking 100% accountability and practicing extreme ownership.
“There are going to be times right where it just doesn’t go your way,” Mann says. “But I think if you have done everything you can do, there’s nothing wrong with surrendering the outcome. At times, it just doesn’t go your way. However, if you have made commitments of what you were going to do to uphold your end of how you’re going to reach these goals, and you look back at the last six months, and maybe you’re executing on 65-70% of your commitments to your team, then it’s never a bad time to dig back in, take ownership of that, recommit and see what you can do the next six months.”
