What To Ask Before You Turn The Page
Review Before You Make Resolutions
'A life not reflected upon,' wrote Henri Nouwen, 'is a life not worth living.'
The start of the Christmas season normally marks the beginning of a period of review for leaders - and so it should. In any enterprise, the strength of our future is largely a product of the scrutiny we give to our recent past.
Without a proper evaluation of our achievements and areas for improvement, strategy lacks accountability and people are robbed of the opportunity to celebrate and to grow.
Yet some leaders are prone to leave issues from the last year unresolved, even while they busily make resolutions for the year to come. This is akin to turning the page of a book before you've finished the previous page.
The next part of the story won't make much sense unless you completely finish each page. You must take everything you can from the last season of life if you're to be fed and warmed in the next.
There are some simple but vital keys to making a healthy review of the year that's passing. I've couched them in the form of questions. As you turn the page from one year to another, you will do well to ask:
1. Do My Achievements This Year Reflect My Core Values?
While we are all, at times, involved in activities that don't really fire our passions, the major part of our work should reflect our core motivations and ideals.
If the great majority of your work and that of your team is completely out of alignment with your values, if making your work fit your ideals is a stretch, you may need to consider a career change. (Even in times of financial constraint, the risk can be worth it.)
You can easily live with falling short of a work target or a personal goal now and again; but it's difficult to live with yourself if you're constantly compromising the values you hold dear.
2. Do My Own Core Values Serve a Purpose beyond Self-Interest?
Our values don't change anywhere near as much or as often as do our strategies and goals. By definition, values reflect our priorities; they shouldn't shift with the wind.
Yet it's still healthy to review our values from time to time, bringing to them the benefit of experience and learning.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said that a human being hasn't begun to live until he or she can look beyond their own individual pursuits and see the interests of the broader humanity. With some areas of your work you may find it difficult to see any overriding, altruistic purpose. It may be hard to see how this or that project is adding value to the human experience.
Yet you need to know that you do have an overriding purpose beyond paying the mortgage and helping the company to meet its bottom line.
If your work doesn't provide any opportunities for altruism, you may need to fill the need with extra-curricula activities such as volunteer work for a charity, or investing part of your holidays with an NGO.
However you choose to express it, having an outlet for altruism will enhance your professional life - not to mention your general health and wellbeing. There is nothing as motivating as knowing that you are making a visible and tangible difference in the lives of other people.
3. Am I Connecting with People Who Are Making a Difference?
As leaders, we don't always get to choose our co-workers, or even the members of our own teams. Yet we can exercise some control over the circle of people who will form our circle of reference.
The core people in your world become your landmarks, your reference points for values and behaviour. You need to you surround yourself with people who can point you in the right direction even when the pressure is on.
It helps if your circle of reference is not entirely work-based; you need a bigger worldview if you're to decipher true success from mere career-enhancement.
Of course, in the work environment you will have colleagues who don't share your core values, but the closer your key people are to sharing your strongest ideals, the more resilient and productive will be your alliances with them.
4. Is My Time As Valuable to Me As My Money?
There is no question that money is a vital part of our lives. In business, profit is a key measure of our productivity and success. It's pleasing to see our financial position being strengthened as years go by, both personally and corporately.
However, in many ways, time is a more valuable commodity than cold hard cash - and how we use time is a better measure of our effectiveness.
Shiploads of books have been written about time management but in a sense none of us really manages time. Time is something that operates outside of our control. We all have the same number of hours in the day. None of us can create more time; yet we can find innumerable ways to waste it.
The question is: how have I spent the balance of my time this year? Am I in credit or debit when it comes to the quality of the time I've spent? Have I invested the currency of time in things that last?
Walt Disney once said, 'A man [or woman] should never neglect his family for his business.' Most of us will spend at least 40 years in the professional sphere or our lives. Yet we may only spend 20 years - or less - raising our children.
If we're parents, we have only a few years in which to instil the discipline, values and love that will shape the lives of our kids and those of generations to come.
This Christmas some of us may need to spend less money on our families, but give them more time.
5. Where Have I Seen Major Success This Year?
Many leaders come to the end of the year and, driven as they are to achieve the highest levels of performance, see only their deficiencies, failures or areas for improvement.
Nothing motivates like success. Unless you end the year with a clear understanding of where you've made a difference, both in reaching targets and more importantly changing lives, you won't have the motivation you need to get back to work after the break.
Basically, you won't discover new shores in the New Year unless you approach it as an ocean of possibilities - and you'll need the wind of past success at your back to propel you forward.
If you conduct the right kind of review, both personally and professionally, you can positively resolve the old year before embarking on the new.
If you take the time to ask these questions, you can avoid making the same old mistakes, while expecting a different result. You can avoid the discouragement that comes from unmarked categories. And you will be a much happier person to be around, for your family and those you care most about.
© Mal Fletcher 2009
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