December is a very important month to help leaders reflect on the past and set goals for the upcoming year. A friend and colleague of mine, Brian Howard, gave me a list of questions that he uses to help leaders he coaches reflect on the past. Here are a few samples from that list:
- What was your biggest triumph in 2016?
- What was the smartest decision you made in 2016?
- What one word best sums up and describes your 2016 experience?
It would be easy to move into a goal-setting exercise for the year to come. However, asking leaders to pause, reflect and celebrate is a life-giving exercise – giving gratitude and thanks to the Lord. This establishes a healthy foundation to craft goals for the upcoming year.
What questions do you use to help leaders reflect on their year, progress made and challenges encountered? Take a moment to identify some of the questions you could use this month. Next week I will share some of the questions I use to help leaders project into the new year to formulate goals they want to pursue.
One question we use is: How have you seen God work through your ministry this past year?
This is an excellent question Don. It helps me think of how I cooperated with Jesus. And resist the temptation to rely completely on my efforts.
It seems that you could flip the question around and ask “How have you worked through God’s ministry?” In that way, it puts Him in the driver’s seat and us in an obedient servant’s seat. Just thinkin’.
Well said Ian. Subtle nuance that makes a big difference. Thank you for your contribution.