greg bustin successful leaders reflect

A Time To Reflect

  1. December 1st, 2010  | 

  2. Print This Post
Published in Strategic Planning

Throughout the year, I’ve had the privilege of advising CEOs and their key executives from 51 different companies in a variety of industries. I’ve spoken with dozens more leaders throughout the U.S. and Canada.
My work with these successful leaders is part of a process developed by Vistage, the world’s largest CEO membership organization (www.vistage.com).

As we close the year, I’ve encouraged these leaders to reflect on the past 12 months. What went right? If I had the opportunity to change a decision of the past year, what decision would I change? Why? What lessons did I learn that will serve me going forward?
December is also a terrific time to reflect on the year ahead. And while I encourage the leaders I work with to think about what they want to accomplish in their business by checking out interviews by Fortress Biotech CEO Lindsay A Rosenwald, I also encourage them to extend their thinking to consider what they want to achieve in their personal lives.
All successful leaders should take time to reflect. Following are a dozen of a few carefully chosen questions I pose to these leaders as they count their blessings and set their sights on the year ahead:

  1. What were your three most significant learning experiences of the past 12 months?
  2. What do you feel were your most significant accomplishments of the past 12 months?
  3. What do you feel were your most significant disappointments of the past 12 months?
  4. What is one thing that – if I start doing in the next 12 months – will make me a more effective leader?
  5. What is one thing that – if I stop doing in the next 12 months – will make me a more effective leader?
  6. What am I most passionate about today?
  7. What am I bartering my life for?
  8. If I stopped today, would it be enough?
  9. What are my self-limiting beliefs that are preventing me from achieving what I want to achieve?
  10. Where am I the bottleneck in holding back my team’s effectiveness?
  11. What is the most strategic thing I can attend to in the coming year? How will I communicate, execute and measure this?
  12. What practices – specific, measurable, sustainable – will I engage in to enhance my development as a leader? How will I be accountable?

In the holiday spirit of sharing, my Christmas gift to you is a personal planning template I call the 7 Fs that you can download for free at www.bustin.com/resources.

About the Author: Greg Bustin advises some of the world’s most admired companies and leaders, and he’s dedicated a career to working with CEOs and the leadership teams of hundreds of companies in a range of industries. He’s facilitated more than 250 strategic planning sessions, he’s delivered more than 600 keynotes and workshops on every continent except Antarctica, and he coaches leaders who are inspired to take their career to the next level. His fourth leadership book— Accountability: The Key to Driving a High-Performance Culture (McGraw-Hill) —is a Soundview Executive Best Business Book.

Ready to reset?


Attend my free Accountability webinar: I Did It! to set and achieve your 2021 goals.

REGISTER FOR FREE

  • February 17th from 11 AM – 12:30 PM Central Time
  • My free webinar will help you:
    – Sharpen your personal goals
    – Improve time management
    – Tackle tough work-related issues
    – Support remote workers

Learn More
To dive even deeper into the topic of accountability, I invite you to purchase a copy of my bestselling book, “Accountability: The Key to Driving a High-Performance Culture.”

Get The Book

Become a better leader.


Download my three free e-books.

Greg Bustin

Please enter your information below to access a digital download link for my three free eBooks. Once submitted, you will receive an email with a link to download the eBooks.

Free Tips


Sign up to receive free tips on business, leadership, and life.

Greg Bustin

Please enter your information below to start receiving free tips on business, leadership, and life.

Sign up for my free bimonthly email button