This past year is certainly one for the record books. How are you evaluating it? What does your scoreboard and stat sheet look like? As we come to the close of 2020, I want to offer you some considerations on how to gauge the year.
Here are two questions I use to assist leaders getting started in their evaluation of the past year:
- What are you measuring?
- How are you measuring it?
I recommend you consider examining yourself as a whole person both personally and professionally.
Here are eight categories that many of my clients examine at the start of a coaching engagement:
- Professional position
- Leadership
- Wealth
- Health
- Relationship
- Fun & Leisure
- Personal Growth
- Giving back or spirituality
If this is your first time doing this; these eight categories are a good starting place. As you continue to work on these evaluations, you will find yourself migrating to more or specific areas of interest. For example, in “personal growth” you will likely add specific sub-areas you are working on. “Contribution or spirituality” turns into the specific area are you most concerned with. To get started, the general categories work.
Next, decide how you want to measure each category. Having both a quantitative (number) and a qualitative (condition, feeling, or attribute) can be helpful. In my experience the qualitative assessments work best tied to the feelings, emotions, or motivations.
Here are several examples:
This usually takes a couple of iterations to get it in a form that you are comfortable with. Then is starts to grow. It becomes specific, detailed, and increasingly meaningful the more you work with it. From there it turns into creating next year’s goals in the exact same format.
It is interesting to sum up an evaluation with a single overall statement on how you have progressed this year. Craft a paragraph that captures where you were at the beginning, where you are now, and what the change says about you. Celebrate the successes, highlight accomplishments, and plan to capitalize on what worked.
What have I found:
- 2020 had a lot of positives
- Individuals have grown, shown resiliency, tenacity, and creativity they did not know existed
- Families spent more time together
I think you will be surprised at the positives you find. This is your starting place for the upcoming year. The next question is:“What do you need to accomplish in 2021 to feel successful?”
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