Welcome Baywalk readers to the January edition of It's all about Focus on Baywalk.com. This month we begin the new millennium with a continuation of our series on leadership. I hope you enjoy: "Old Habits Die Hard!"

Greetings. If you are reading this article, it means that the Y2K bugs did not impede Baywalk.com. It also means that I managed to write my article and find a way to send it while on vacation in the mountains with the family and extended family.

It was during the six-hour drive up to the June Lake-Mammoth ski area in California that my article began to coalesce. I wanted a topic that would address a leadership issue that would strike home with most readers. As I reflected on the typical New Years topics, my own past experiences with New Year's resolutions brought this month's topic into focus.

Most of us start each year reflecting on last year's personal leadership failures; specifically how we managed our time, our people, and our work tasks. We all want to be more efficient and effective as leaders. I, for one, used to make wonderful resolutions about how I would change my management style, manage my incoming mail, the clutter on my desk, my managers, my calendar, "to do list", and how I would increase my availability to staff. These resolutions were heart felt and made with the best intentions in mind.

Unfortunately, the new year brought the typical organizational chaos, operating challenges, and personnel issues that seemed to suck up all the time allocated to implementing those important resolutions. Each year it seemed that no matter how committed I was to making a change, the hectic nature of my responsibilities and the corporate environment short-circuited my attempts to change leadership behaviors.

Sound familiar????

Ok, now the truth. Intellectual spin and excuses aside, the best answer is the most common heard excuse; "old habits die hard." Second truth; don't show up to a gunfight with a knife.

Let's put things in perspective. Leadership traits, also known as personal habits associated with leadership, are no different than other personal habits such as smoking. We all know that most individuals that attempt to quit smoking (changing a personal habit) face an uphill struggle that requires tremendous commitment and energy. We know that for many, their efforts to quit smoking will result in failure. Breaking a smoking habit is a complex process that requires not only a desire, but a substantial outpouring of energy, help from others, and often times pharmaceutical substitutes that help the individual break his or her addiction to nicotine.

Complex habits require a different approach than habits of a simplistic nature. Too often, we try to change a complex habit with the same effort we put forth in changing a simple habit. Take, for example, the simply habit of throwing your dirty clothes in the corner of the closet instead of into the clothes hamper (parents - does this sound like a familiar battle?). The effort to change this habit is fairly minimal, requires effort over a short duration of time, and is not effected by other individuals (parents' harping does not count).

On the other hand, leadership habits are complex. They include components from our corporate environment, our mentors, our peers, our management team, and our personal non-work behaviors. They require an intricate plan of action in order to achieve a change in leadership behavior. Changing leadership habit is just as difficult as addressing a personal habit such as smoking.

It is also worth mentioning that we usually start each year off with a list that has several complex habits that we want to change. This is a plan assured of failure. For most of us, dealing with one complex habit within the confines of the complex world of leadership is more than enough challenge for a given time period.

So, if you're reading this and have already felt the despair of failing to effectuate your New Year's resolutions, take heart. It is still early in the year. Pick out your most important resolution and give it your very best effort.

See you next month!