The Leadership of Reflection

December is often a time of deep reflection, as the end of a calendar year initiates a natural period of endings and beginnings. It is common to use this month to reflect on the year and set goals and intentions for the year ahead. And if ever there was a year to reflect and put behind us - 2020 sure is it!

Last month we talked about hope, and how we as leaders can be shepherds of hope with our teams and organizations. To operationalize hope, we are of the mindset that hope is activated when we engage in intentional reflection and goal setting. When we can pause amidst the swirl, honestly identify what’s working, what’s not, and where to adjust, we can then smartly identify and realize a desired future.

Where do you start? As you and your team close out 2020 and look towards 2021, here are a handful of questions to help with the reflection. These questions can be used both for your individual reflection, as well as team reflection. While these are certainly not exhaustive, they can be a starting off point for reflection and intention setting.

Reflection:

• What do you want to congratulate yourself on?

• What was a win?

• What was possible this year that you would never have envisioned in January?

• What do you need to let go of?

• What do you need to stop/start/continue?

• What were the biggest lessons you learned this year?

• What no longer serves you?

• What do you want to leave behind in 2020?

Intention:

• What do you want to bring focus to - both personally and professionally?

• Why is that important to you? What would be possible as a result?

• What do you want to practice?

• What do you want to experience more of?

• Think of the bravest action you could take this year. What might get in the way of taking that action?

• Imagine it’s December 2021. What would a successful year look like?

• How or who will hold me/us accountable? How will I assess progress?

Let us know what arises for you.