Before you get to the end of the year, ask yourself these 10 important questions.
You’re almost at the end of what might have been one of the most important years in your entire career. After all, it isn’t often that you’re presented with nearly daily opportunities to grow, adapt, and change, and for many senior leaders, 2022 offered all that in unprecedented ways as they navigated a pending recession, supply chain issues, hybrid work, and more. And, for many, 2022 may have brought much to celebrate, whether it was a new role, a big win, a career change, or more. For these reasons, before you usher in 2023, take advantage of the final days in December and set aside a few minutes to reflect on the year you’ve just had.
If you’re in the habit of conducting an annual year in review for yourself, you may typically rely on questions that focus on your accomplishments or what you wished you could have done differently over the past 12 months. Consider adding a few of these questions into the mix:
- What was the most important thing I did to improve the performance of my organization in 2022?
- What are 2-3 specific ways that the challenges of the past year helped me improve as a leader?
- When I think about how I led my team through these challenges, what do I wish I had done differently?
- What did the past 12 months teach me about what I no longer need to spend time on or be concerned with?
- What did the past 12 months highlight about the people I work with and the leaders I follow?
- What were the best decisions I made this year?
- Whom did I rely on most in 2022 and why?
- What did I notice about how I handled change over the past 12 months?
- How would others have described my leadership style over this past year?
- What mistakes did I make and how did I admit my mistakes in 2022?
One of my favorite quotes comes from the late American philosopher John Dewey: “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” We only get so many years on the planet, so before this one comes to a close, take advantage of the fact that you’ve just experienced something extraordinary. Our most powerful experiences give us great insight into our values, our character, and who we are as people. The problem is that many of us are often too busy to take the time to reflect on our experiences in any meaningful way.
As the year winds down, take time to appreciate everything you’ve had to navigate over the past year and use the questions written above to do something we hardly ever get to do as much as we’d like: Reflect and think.
