The Windshield is Bigger than the Rear View Mirror – Look ahead, while reflecting on the Past

Finding the time to sit down and write this has been difficult.  As you all know and understand the time commitment at work, then add the holiday rush to your daily schedule; it has been one crazy, anything but normal year.  I am hoping you have four minutes to sit down and read this blog….hoping you can find some reflection on 2020 and a vision for 2021.

Rewind 365 days?  Everything, and anything you think of was much different than today.  You were planning parties, travel, dinners with families' and friends. You were celebrating the true reason for the season, and partaking in religious activities. To end the year, celebrating New Year’s Eve, so out with the old and in with the new!

Have you taken the time to self-reflect on your personal life as well as your work life and the organization accomplishments and changes over this past year? If you haven’t…. you should set some time in your calendar to self-reflect.  Self-reflection is a leadership quality needed to develop a vision for the future.  Self-awareness gives you the ability to understand your emotions, strengths and weakness, values and goals, and recognize their impact on others. 

“Reflection gives the brain an opportunity to pause amidst the chaos, untangle and sort through observations and experiences, consider multiple, possible interpretations, and create meaning. This meaning becomes learning, which can then inform future mindsets and actions.  For leaders, this “meaning making” is crucial to their ongoing growth and development.” (Harvard Business Review, Jennifer Porter; March 21, 2017)

Open this link when you have the time to self-reflect: Click Here

If not, some quick questions to consider:   

What is the most important lesson you learned this year?

What is the best thing that happened?

What challenges did you overcome?

What new skills did you learn?

What did you do for your career growth?

What did you enjoy the most?

What was your favorite moment?

What are you thankful for this year?

When did you start drinking hard liquor?  Sorry, to those recovering…..

This leads into 2021 and developing a vision.  The link is above for those of you that would like to make the time to complete a more comprehensive self-reflection that will lead you into the New Year.

Personally, looking at my own self-reflection, I realize how fortunate I am to work in an organization that promotes learning, grace and humility.  I heard these words over and over the past nine months.  We worked as a team to feed children, develop programs in weeks to meet family’s needs in regards to remote learning, while developing recreation programs with major changes in the midst of the pandemic. I am personally grateful to those individuals that I worked with over the past year, that have had a listening ear, accepted my mistakes, and did the “Next Right Thing.” I am fortunate to have developed deeper relationships with those within our organization. Yes, we have had some tough times, but we have worked for the greater good.  I am proud of our team, and recreation department, during such a chaotic time.  Did we make mistakes? Absolutely!  Did we learn? Oh, yes we did! Will we remember this for the rest of our lives? Yes we will! Will this make future problems more manageable? Definitely!  Will we ever forget the word Pivot?  Not in my lifetime!

I will open the windows on New Year’s Eve to allow the New Year in and make sure 2020 has left!  2021 might just start as this one ends, but life is not waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain. (Or I hope snow!)  I am ready to dance, how about you?

From Voltaire – Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.