5 Key Steps to Amplify Your Successes in 2025

Erica Kesse

Let's set things up for you to Thrive in 2025

As the year freshly begins, it's the perfect time to reflect on your accomplishments, recharge, and set intentions for the year. In this post, we'll explore five essential steps to help you amplify your successes and make 2025 your best year yet.


Celebrate Your Wins

Before looking ahead, take time to acknowledge and celebrate your achievements from the past year. Reflecting on your successes will help you:


  • Acknowledge all those to whom you are grateful
  • Identify areas of strength and growth
  • Build confidence and momentum
  • Develop a positive mindset for the new year


Dream Big

Now it's time to envision how you can amplify your successes and make them even better in 2025. Take a few moments to:


  • Sit still and daydream maybe with a cup of tea
  • Imagine your ideal outcomes and aspirations
  • Write down your dreams in clear, actionable terms
  • Create a vision board or mind map to visualize your goals


My colleague, Eternity Sledge, has a webinar called Dare to Dream. 


Here is the synopsis: Welcome to Dare to Dream Audaciously | Build Your Purpose-Driven Empire! Are you ready to take your dreams to the next level and create a purpose-driven empire? Join us for this exciting online event where you will network with like-minded individuals and gain the tools and strategies needed to turn your dreams into reality. Mark your calendars for Wednesday January 22, 2024 at 7PM CST and get ready to unleash your full potential. Don't miss out on this opportunity to build the empire you've always dreamed of!


Map Out Your Plan

With your dreams and aspirations in mind, create a strategic plan for the upcoming year. Break down your goals into smaller, manageable tasks, and:


  • Create a timeline for January to December
  • Outline when you'll launch each new initiative or project
  • Identify potential obstacles and develop contingency plans


Share with Your Team

Effective communication is crucial to achieving your goals. Share your vision with your COO, stakeholders, and team members, ensuring everyone is:


  • Aligned with your goals and objectives
  • Accountable for their roles and responsibilities
  • Equipped with the necessary resources and support


If you’re looking to empower your team to work seamlessly and make decisions with confidence, check out this article on creating a self-sufficient team that thrives without constantly needing your input and insight. Here is an article from Nerissa Malloy, RN, COO.

Schedule Quarterly Celebrations

Finally, schedule regular check-ins to acknowledge your progress and successes. Set aside time each quarter to:


  • Reflect on your accomplishments and challenges
  • Adjust your plan as needed
  • Celebrate your wins and milestones


By following these five key steps, you'll be well on your way to amplifying your successes and making 2025 an unforgettable year.


Take the Next Step

Grab the Strategic Planning Checklist.


Stay Focused on Your Goals

Until next time, stay focused on your goals, and remember to celebrate your wins along the way. You got this!


Warm regards,

Erica Kesse

The CEO’s Guide to Psychological Safety: Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace

By Erica Kesse • November 7, 2025
As a CEO, your leadership sets the tone for your organization’s culture. But are you fostering an environment where employees feel safe to share ideas and concerns? Psychological safety, a critical factor for mental health, is the foundation of high-performing teams. This guide explores how CEOs can model boundaries to create a mentally healthy workplace, backed by research and practical steps. Why Psychological Safety Matters for Mental Health Psychological safety—where employees feel secure to take risks without fear of judgment—directly impacts mental health. A 2015 Google study, Project Aristotle, found that psychological safety was the top predictor of team success, driving innovation and collaboration. For CEOs, fostering this environment starts with intentional leadership. Poor psychological safety leads to stress, disengagement, and higher turnover, costing businesses billions annually, according to Gallup’s 2023 workplace report. How CEOs Can Model Boundaries for Psychological Safety Set Clear Communication Norms: Announce no after-hours emails unless urgent. This signals respect for personal time, reducing employee stress. Lead with Vulnerability: Share your own workload challenges or mental health strategies. A 2022 Deloitte study found that 80% of employees trust leaders who openly discuss mental health. Encourage Feedback: Create anonymous channels for team input, showing that dissent is welcome. Train Managers: Equip leadership teams to recognize burnout and enforce boundaries, reinforcing a culture of care. CEOs who prioritize psychological safety through boundary-setting create workplaces where mental health thrives. By modeling clear boundaries and fostering open communication, you drive innovation and loyalty. Start today by assessing your team’s psychological safety and setting one new boundary.

The 3 Flows of Leadership: Why Upward Communication is Non-Negotiable

By Erica Kesse • October 24, 2025
Effective leadership demands a holistic approach to internal communication, recognizing its multidimensional framework. This system is defined by three distinct flows - Upward, Downward, and Lateral, each serving a specific, vital function that directly impacts productivity and profit. For the CEO, understanding and nurturing the Upward Flow is non-negotiable. Downward: The Direction Flow (Necessary, But Insufficient) Downward communication (from leadership to subordinates) is essential for delegation and distributing information. However, an organization dominated by this top-down approach quickly becomes rigid and unresponsive. True leadership understands that direction must be balanced by receptivity. Upward: The Innovation and Mental Health Flow The Upward Flow is the pulse check of the organization. It's the vital mechanism that allows employees to surface problems, share innovative ideas, and provide crucial feedback. When the CEO and their leadership team actively cultivate and respond to upward communication, two things happen: 1. Innovation: Valuable, ground-level insights are integrated into strategic planning. 2. Mental Health: Employees feel heard, increasing their sense of value and reducing stress, which directly supports their **mental health** and boosts morale. Lateral: The Agility Flow Finally, Lateral communication enables cross-functional collaboration, ensuring departments are aligned on goals. When all three flows are healthy and efficient, the organization operates like a sophisticated nervous system, maximizing its responsiveness and overall vitality. The success of the modern CEO and their leadership team depends on maintaining a strategic balance across all three flows. However, the health and resilience of the entire enterprise hinge on a continuous, valued, and non-negotiable stream of communication flowing up the hierarchy.

The Communication Blueprint: What Every CEO Needs for Organizational Agility

By Erica Kesse • October 17, 2025
The organizational destiny of any modern enterprise is directly tied to the efficiency of its internal communication system. For the modern CEO, building a robust communication framework is not about mandate—it’s about survival in a dynamic market. Formal vs. Informal: The Strategic Balance A key part of the communication blueprint is understanding the interplay between formal and informal channels. Formal communication (reports, official emails) provides structure, clarity, and accountability. However, the social fabric of the organization, the trust and agility required for quick problem-solving is built through informal communication. The CEO must ensure leadership fosters a strategic balance, preventing an over-reliance on rigid, top-down structures that stifle valuable feedback. Lateral Communication and Innovation Organizational agility relies heavily on Lateral/Horizontal Communication—the flow of information between peers and across departments. When silos exist, innovation dies. Effective leadership must facilitate this cross-functional collaboration to ensure knowledge sharing and joint problem-solving. This efficient flow is crucial for driving productivity and ensuring the organization can respond quickly to market shifts. The CEO’s Human-Centric Mandate The path to a thriving workforce begins with an unwavering commitment to communication excellence, which requires specific skills from the CEO and the leadership team. This includes active listening, strategic channel selection, and maintaining radical transparency. This culture, which also supports employee mental health, positions the organization as a responsive, unified entity ready to meet market demands. The CEO acts as the architect of the communication ecosystem. By strategically balancing formality, facilitating lateral flow, and practicing transparent leadership, the organization gains the agility and resilience needed for sustainable growth.
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