It’s the start of a New Year and I’m guessing you are already busy, rushing from one meeting to the next, problem solving, picking up a new project on an already full agenda, planning for the new financial year…

The Christmas break seems like a long time ago and all your best intentions for starting the New Year off differently are starting to falter.

I work with many leaders in a range of environments and the one thing they are all faced with is a world of increasing complexity, volatility and pace.

I’m guessing the same is true for you. So here is my question:

When do you get quality time to think?

When do you get the time to clear your head to make sense of the multi layered complexity and multi dimensional relationships of work?

Those of you who are very disciplined will carve out some time in the week to review what happened last week and plan your priorities for the coming week. Others may do this on a monthly or quarterly basis.

• Does this provide you with new perspectives and understanding of what is going on?
• Do you gain new insights into how you can tackle a situation differently to get better results?
• Do you think about things differently?

We all have blind spots and it’s very easy for us to stay in a pattern of doing things and behaving in a certain way. When we don’t take time to step back and reflect our professional mirror can become a little dusty.

Here is an opportunity to polish that mirror and maintain its shine for the coming months.

Give yourself the gift of reflection

Every opportunity and activity we face is an opportunity to learn and see something new.

Taking time out to be reflective and engage in a purposeful enquiry provides you with an opportunity to look at the problem along with the players and the system you are working in. You’ll also notice your own thought patterns and reactions.

Working with a coach or mentor can provide different lenses and perspectives.

These added insights and support provide additional momentum in starting and sustaining new actions.

A recent client after several sessions commented:

“I’ve slowed down so much I’m quicker than I was before!”

So, if you’d like to rethink, resource and reenergise yourself to lead with more clarity, focus, purpose and wisdom send me an email and I’ll set up a call.

Show up more fully as the leader you were meant to be.

“The voyage of discovery is not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

Marcel Proust