Looking forward by looking back

Like many business leaders, one of my clients is in the middle of writing a year-end review. But he’s not just writing one for his company. He’s writing one for himself.

I told him that was amazing and that I hope to read it one day. And what an idea!

What would a year-end review for yourself look like? After all, this time of year has a ‘wind-down’ mentality. We spend time reflecting to learn and internalize what we have gone through.

But we also look forward. We set goals for the year ahead. We craft a vision for what we’ll accomplish when the calendar turns. There is a perception of a fresh start as January kicks off. First quarter rolls around again, so looking back over the year is a valuable exercise, just as any reflection can be.

So we look back at the same time that we look forward. Leaders have to balance that every day. As much as the Foundation for Effective Leadership program is about learning skills, the element of reflection and the shift to looking forward is part of our mindset and approach. We build that into the program through the work that we do.

But what if we took this one step farther? What if you also wrote a year in review as if it were one year from now? Imagine if, today, it were December 2019...what would you write as your year in review?

“But what if we took this one step farther? What if you also wrote a year in review as if it were one year from now? Imagine if, today, it were December 2019...what would you write as your year in review?”

For NextGen Center, I see us expanding our reach to more emerging leaders, and continuing to refine the experience and community that we create.  

This would truly be an exercise to look “back” and see what you accomplished in a year you haven’t actually experienced yet. It’s like a letter to your previous self -- but a self you haven’t actualized just yet.