“We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience” (US philosopher John Dewey) In Germany, many people take the usually quieter time “Zwischen den Jahren” – or “Between the Years” from Christmas Day to Epiphany or at least New Year’s Day - to take stock of the year that is ending and plan for the new one that is just beginning. This is particularly important for both experienced and new leaders who are completing probably one of the most turbulent and challenging years of their lives in 2020 and facing a more hopeful but still uncertain future in 2021. In this first of two columns on this topic, here are 10 key questions that leaders may want to ask themselves about themselves for the year that is coming to a close: 1. Thinking all the way back to pre-Coronavirus January, what were my professional (and personal) vision, goals and commitments for 2020? 2. What was I able to achieve in relation to these markers this year? 3. How did the Corona pandemic impact my professional (and personal) effectiveness? 4. What brought me the most satisfaction and why? 5. What was my biggest challenge? 6. What was my biggest surprise? 7. What was my biggest disappointment or failure? 8. What was my biggest learning or insight about myself? 9. What would I have done differently if not for the Corona pandemic and other events out of my control? 10. How would I sum up this year for me in three words? Now let’s look at 10 key questions that leaders need to ask themselves about others. This second round of questions may look like the first one but they have a very different focus and slightly different wording: 1. Thinking all the way back to pre-Coronavirus January, what were my professional (and personal) vision, goals and commitments for our team/project/programme/enterprise in 2020? 2. What were we able to achieve in relation to these markers this year? 3. How did the Corona pandemic impact our effectiveness? 4. What brought me the most satisfaction in relation to others and why? 5. What was our biggest challenge? 6. What was our biggest surprise? 7. What was our biggest disappointment or failure? 8. What was my biggest learning or insight about others? 9. What could we have done differently if not for the Corona pandemic and other events out of our control? 10. How would I sum up this year in three words for our team/project/programme/enterprise? Once such questions have been answered and recorded for themselves, there is no need for leaders to rush to start planning for next year. Instead, they might make better use of this time to request a frank conversation online, by phone or in person - at a safe, masked distance, of course - with each one of those around them, including bosses, peers, subordinates, external counterparts and mentors (and even spouses/partners, family members and close friends). Firstly, they could begin each conversation by showing sincere appreciation for whatever that other person has achieved in the past year, such as: “I really liked the way that you showed flexibility in terms of prioritizing and orchestrating what had to be done while delaying or letting go of what was less urgent or important.” Secondly, they might want to express genuine compassion for any shortcomings, such as: “That must have been so frustrating for you to be too late to prevent those offices from being closed but you did your best to mitigate any hardship for the workers who had to be laid off.” And thirdly and most importantly, they could request feedback for themselves on what they did and didn’t do well in the last year. This can be a big risk for any leader but if there is enough respect and trust with those around them, they should receive plenty of honest, specific and constructive input. However harsh some of these words may seem, leaders will want to listen carefully until the end without interrupting and only talk to clarify anything that is unclear. Before making any commitments for the future, there are two more things they can do: graciously thank the other person for taking the time to give them such feedback and, if appropriate, humbly apologize without excuses for any disappointments or failures in the eyes of others, remembering that their “perception is reality.” “Apologizing does not always mean you’re wrong and the other person is right. It just means you value your relationship more than your ego,” in the wise words of US buffalo soldier, Mark Matthews. The views expressed in this column are entirely those of the writer who can be reached at jeremy@jeremysolomons.co
