2021 — This year’s reflections
We’ve (almost!) made it to the end of 2021 and in my usual way I’m taking a bit of time to reflect and share a few of my musings as we end the year.
It’s been another wild one, which, come August time, actually meant being able to visit new offices and see colleagues in person again.
I am also fortunate enough to benefit from taking some ‘lifestyle leave’ this year which essentially buys me an extra week off to recharge this Christmas holiday after we moved house back in May.
All good stuff — anyway, here’s my top 3 things I’ve learned this year…
I flippin’ love Venn diagrams
My favourite Venn diagram of 2021 is Patrick Lencioni’s one from his book The Ideal Team Player
The concept is pretty simple in that there are 3 key characteristics that make for ideal team players. It’s not necessarily a model that that measures capability or skills but more so the mindset required to contribute well to a team.
We’ve spent a lot of time in the last few months looking at this and asking for feedback individually on this model. Powerful stuff.
If you’re after a quick intro check out the TedTalk here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRh80RyT74I
Good health is a gift
Wow — at the start of this week I was absolutely floored by a (non-Covid) bug which had me laid up for 3 whole days!
I’m fortunate to be usually healthy and firing on all cylinders and so it was a bit of a shock to be struck down and left barely able to function
Our main campaign at Xero this year has been all about ensuring we enable healthy business and I’m really keen to continue to pursue the idea of Partner health into 2022 as well
On a personal level what do we need to do to retain healthy relationships and work life balance in the new year? I know it can be all too easy to let life take over so one of the things I’ll be doing for a few months in the new year is to take a 3 month sabbatical from LinkedIn and Twitter from January. I may even update on here how that experiment goes.
https://www.xero.com/uk/campaign/healthy-business/
Resilience requires foundations
I remember one of my former managers jesting one time that there was a reason that we did resilience training. Life happens fast and change is always just around the corner
How well rooted are you to be able to deal with the news and change that comes your way?
I’m convinced that 3 months at Xero is like 12 months anywhere else and so making sure I am rooted and grounded outside of work is critical to success for me
Leaning into the practices around my faith are the way I try to stay grounded and I love John Mark Comer’s way of framing this up (I am quick to forget and miss the mark on these all the time by the way!)
All the best for 2022
I guess that just leaves me to say thank you to those that have contributed to making 2021 a success. I’ve met more amazing people and am constantly in awe of what a group of people can achieve when they come together with the same purpose
Here’s to an even better 2022
Peace
