Wow – it is already the end of December. 2024 is over. The clock has expired on both your professional and personal yearly goals. The last week of the year is usually slow for many leaders. That means you have time to reflect on the past year. It is time for you to complete an annual assessment. I am not talking about the one that your boss completes and gets submitted to HR. No – this is when you take time to reflect and codify the important leadership lessons you learned in 2024. The best leaders I know are learning leaders.
How was 2024 for you?
It is hard to believe that 2024 is already over. You may be scratching your head, wondering where the time went. The main question worth pondering is how did 2024 go for you. If you are like me, you made solid progress on some of your goals for the year. Unfortunately, it is not all good news. I made little to no progress on several goals. Well, it is time to do something about that. Time to get ready for 2025.
How do you complete an annual assessment?
There are many ways to complete an annual assessment. Choose whatever method works best for you. The process I am recommending has five primary steps, which are described below. It should take only an hour or two. I also recommend you record your results.
- Write down your top wins. Start your annual review positively by listing your wins from 2024. What is a win? Anything that went well.
- Measure your progress against your goals. Review your annual goals and honestly assess your progress. I recommend being a hard grader.
- Evaluate how your year went. Think about the various things that happened during the last year. Ponder questions like what worked? What didn’t and why?
- Make adjustments for the next year. You want to keep doing successful activities and change what did not work. You may also need to create new goals for 2025.
- Identify your top 3 to 5 goals for next year. Take time to identify the most critical upcoming activities for 2025.
If you are looking for a tool to determine how your year went I recommend Michael Hyatt’s LifeScore assessment. I have used this tool the past several years. It is an excellent for scoring how my year went, and also comparing year over year results.
How do you use this powerful leadership tool?
There are two significant benefits of an annual assessment. First, this review also allows you to honestly assess how 2024 went. If it was a strong year for you, Congratulations! Keep up the good work and do your best to maintain your positive momentum in 2025. If your year was like mine, a mix of good and bad, then identify what changes and tweaks you need to make for 2025 so that you have a better year. If you had an awful year, then identify a few big shifts that you can make to make 2025 a bounce back year. I know from personal experience that it is terrible for you as a leader if you have a rough year and do nothing to course-correct your path forward. The second benefit is that this tool prepares you for the quarter ahead. You know what is coming, have thought about it beforehand, and created plans. This proactive approach is intentional and better than responding to events as they unfold without considering what deserves your attention for the rest of the year.
What is the hardest part of the annual assessment?
If this tool is so effective, you may wonder why more leaders don’t leverage it. There are two reasons why. First, some leaders prefer to spend all their time future-focused rather than processing the past. They feel it wastes time doing something like an annual assessment. Secondly, conducting this review takes time. You invest more than an hour or two in your annual assessment. It might take up an entire afternoon if you had a tough year or did not achieve many of your annual goals. However, it is an intelligent way to finish the year and prepare for 2025. It will be here soon.
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
President John F. Kennedy
ATW! will make you a better leader
I hope you join me on this journey to raise the next generation of leaders. The world desperately needs more great leaders—women and men who lead confidently, clearly, and creatively. It’s time to become the leader your world needs. Let’s go All The Way!
