Tracking your Progress
Campbell Lumbila March 17th, 2009
Hello
Hope all is well. My last post dealt with partnerships and networking and you can find some helpful hints by Tom Krattenmaker in an article he wrote for the Harvardbusiness.org blog titled “Improve in the delicate Art of Self-Promotion.”
Today, I want to check on how you are doing so far this year as it relates to your vision and goals as well as your leadership. I know 2009 has gotten off to a rough start and the temptation to throw in the towel and give up is so real. However, remember that great leaders are made in the heat of crisis and this is the perfect storm most of us have been waiting for. I want you and I to focus in the next few weeks on reviewing our progress. In fact, I was just reading an article by Gill Corkindale titled ” A New year’s resoultuion: Schedule Regular Meetings with Yourself.” In it she highlights the fact that you and I need to have meetings that are solely focused on us. She says the one thing missing in most leaders is “the ability to reflect: to stand back and consider issues deeply – and to look honestly at themselves as leaders.
She Goes on to give some guidelines for these meetings and here they are:
- Schedule the meeting during working hours: not on weekends, on the train or late on Friday afternoon just before you leave work. Your meeting with yourself is important enough to merit a regular slot, like any other business meeting.
- Invest in a good quality notebook or open a file on your computer. During the week, make brief notes of ‘critical incidents’ (such as discussions, opportunities you had to contribute, clashes or conflict, feedback from others, observations of others’ behaviour) and then go back and reflect on them: what happened, how did you act/react, what did you do well/not so well, what might you have done differently? Learn from these incidents and think of new ways to act in future. Jot these points down and refer to them regularly.
- Consider longer-term issues: your career, developing your skills or those of your team, the direction of your business, your challenges ahead and how you might tackle them. These are critical aspects of your role.
- Reflect on your own successes and achievements. Savour them. This will build your confidence and give you the strength and resilience to carry on and perhaps even inspire others during tough times.
- Never, never shift or cancel your meeting with yourself. It is one of the most important hours in your working week. Consider how many pointless meetings you have to attend and cancel one of those before you cancel your own. Put yourself first.
Your first excuse as you read Gill’s article might have been; “I don’t just have the time.” Well, this meeting is so important that you cannot afford not to make the time. You know that I’ve been a big advocate for tracking your progress through regular reflection and I think that Gill here gives us some very important pointers that we must take to heart. So schedule some time with yourself and remember that you are your best asset, therefore, time spent on improving yourself is a worthwhile investment.
To Your Success!
Campbell
ABOUT GILL CORKINDALE
Gill Corkindale is an executive coach and writer based in London. She works with managers and leaders from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to develop strategies for business effectiveness and personal change. Formerly management editor of the Financial Times, she uses her journalistic skills and business insights to bring a new perspective on global management and leadership.