A powerful way to close out the year
Each year I write a Letter to the BLBS Tribe.
I started this practice in 2017 and you should start today.
Here’s why …
- Reflection is powerful
- Your tribe will be inspired
Reflection is powerful
Most importantly, I have found this practice to have personal benefits.
The first letter I wrote set the tone and established the why. Now each year when I update it, I give myself a generous gift.
This is the gift of reflection.
It is valuable to reflect on the year to see how far BLBS has come and to learn from our mistakes. I especially enjoy updating the past year results and making predictions for what we want to accomplish in the future.
Inspire the tribe
Even though your school (or organization) isn’t a publicly-traded company, you are still responsible to those you serve.
I am so thankful for the leaders that ❤️the podcasts, The Mastermind, and the Go! Community.
Some trade financial resources for the service but all invest time and that is worth everything to me.
Don’t get me wrong, not everyone will care that you write this letter. But your raving fans will absolutely love it … and they matter the most.
They’ll be inspired by what you model.
What if teachers (and even students) powerfully reflected on the year and made bold predictions for 2020?
How would your parents respond to getting a letter from teachers explaining the highlights of the year and what to expect next?
What if students updated their parents on the year and the vision for 2020? What parent wouldn’t love to hear how their child is maturing?
A few tips …
If you’ve never written a letter like this (or if you don’t have a dashboard where you keep score of your goals), here are some starting tips:
- Think about your key metrics. What matters most? Those are the headings of the letter.
- Update stakeholders on the progress toward each goal.
- Be transparent and vulnerable. Don’t hide your mistakes. Tell people what you learned.
- Consider writing as if you were watching a 2019 movie — your “highlight reel.”
- Make bold predictions for the next year.
- When the imposter says “No one will want to read your letter,” ignore that voice and write it anyway.
- Write from your heart. Don’t write what you think the Superintendent or Board of Education want to read. Write about what matters to your heart and soul.
They say the best time to plant a tree was 40 years ago, the second-best time is today.
The same idea applies to this leadership practice. Just start.
Once you have the foundation set, then you’ll have a much easier time updating it.
Here is last year’s letter again that you can use as a template or starting point.
If you don’t have a system for tracking major goals, this epic post will help.
If you are wondering about creating a personal dashboard, here are my November 2019 results.
Caring is Sharing … please share this post on social media so we can help more leaders level up.
