WHAT IMPACT DID YOU HAVE AS A LEADER IN 2017?

As the holidays are fast approaching, it is a good time to reflect on your performance as a leader this year and consider if there is anything different that you can do next year to increase your impact in 2018.

What have you been most proud of when you reflect on the interactions you have had with your team members, peers, your manager and others in the organisation? How do you know that they were positive and did it demonstrably deliver a positive impact to the business? By impact, I mean, uplifting your team’s performance, employee engagement, trust, pride and commitment. On the flipside you could also articulate this as having reduced absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover. What have been the interactions with people that didn’t go very well that you keep replaying in your head (possibly at 2am)? What would you do differently the next time you are faced with that scenario? Perhaps you need to take the time to listen more, ask more questions before diving in with the answer or craft the delivery of challenging feedback more thoughtfully and in a timely fashion.

What innovative ideas have you brought to the team – or, even better, enabled your team to suggest! – that have made a difference to the organisation this year? Are they now operating more efficiently or quickly, has the customer experience improved (measured via surveys and repeat business), is the brand stronger in the marketplace (new business has increased) or have you given more back to the community. How would your team describe your leadership this year? If you aren’t sure – ask! Did you inspire, encourage, develop, stretch, invest time in and support them. Or did they feel like you were too busy doing work and attending meetings so kept bumping their 1:1’s rather than helping them to be their best or did their performance appraisal conversation contain a few surprises for them (good or bad). Did you have any spikes in turnover or absenteeism or a decrease in productivity.

Equally, have you shared with your team what you think has gone well or not so well in terms of your leadership this year? It may make you feel vulnerable to be so transparent but demonstrating such self awareness and desire to be the best you can for your team helps to build trust and opens the door for them to share feedback with you and feel safe in doing so. You may be pleasantly surprised with the feedback you receive and discover that some things you do unconsciously may have a very positive impact on them!

Are you recognised within the wider organisation as being a positive influence and a respected and trusted leader? How would your peers describe you as a leader? Do you stand up for what you believe in and stop the behaviours of those around you who aren’t living the organisation’s values. Is there more that you can do to engage the wider organisation by influencing your peers on the leadership team to also be even better, communicate more, consult and collaborate more, make more thoughtful decisions that are for the benefit of the whole business (rather than just their area of responsibility) in a timely manner.

Are you and the leadership team proud to be working there and believe in what you are trying to achieve and constantly challenging yourselves to be better? These thoughts and behaviours, especially when visible, really help to engage and inspire the wider organisation and build trust and respect for the leadership team.

Finally, what has your leader learnt from observing your leadership behaviours this year? Has it encouraged them to do things differently to amplify their positive impact on employee engagement and performance. Have you given them honest and fair feedback or advice where you have seen opportunities given you can see things within the team from a different perspective. And again – have you transparently shared what you are doing well or not so well as a leader this year and what your learnings have been.

As you (hopefully) start to slow down the professional and personal pace during December, take the time to run a mini-360 degree review on your self and consider what impact you have had as a leader this year. And what can you do differently to amplify those positive outcomes in 2018 within your own team and beyond. What are the two things you are going to commit to doing more of or better next year?