Growth Through Reflection: Leadership Lessons from the Past Year
As this year winds down, have you paused to celebrate how far you’ve come and what you’ve learned along the way?
Reflection is a cornerstone of effective leadership. It gives us the chance to celebrate successes, express gratitude, learn from challenges, and chart a course for the future.
As 2024 comes to a close, I have compiled some of the important lessons I’ve learned regarding leadership.
Lesson 1: Empathy is a Superpower
Think about how common it is to hear dismissive phrases like these, both in our personal lives and at work. Have you heard any of these phrases?
Don’t cry or I will give you something to cry about.
Getting upset won’t make it better.
Don’t show emotion at work; it’s not the place.
She’s upset/mad – she must be on her period.
It could be worse – just be thankful.
Leadership has taken a more human approach, thankfully. We’ve learned that to be the best leader, we need to be authentic, and that includes modeling empathy and appropriate emotional intelligence.
When our emotions are dismissed, it erodes trust and damages relationships. Empathetic leaders avoid this by creating genuine connections rooted in understanding. Great leaders create connection and as Brene Brown’s research shows, we create connection through empathy.
Demonstrating empathy does not mean you do not need to have experienced the same situation, but rather, you need to connect with the emotion they are feeling.
Lesson 2: Adaptability Trumps Perfection
The best made plans can still be adapted. We often need to pivot or make decisions without all the information. We mustn’t be afraid to admit mistakes and make changes when required. Leadership isn’t about getting it perfect; it’s about staying flexible and committed to progress.
When leaders show they’re willing to course-correct, it sets a tone of continuous improvement, encouraging the team to adopt the same mindset. Often, leaders believe that once they’ve made a decision, that changing it makes them look weak and they will lose respect. In fact, admitting an error and fixing it will generally garner greater respect.
As a leader, you serve as an example for those around you. Think about whether you’d want them to push forward when they recognized something isn’t working or isn’t the best decision. If you want them to recognize these challenges and make effective changes and decisions, you need to demonstrate that it’s OK to admit when things didn’t work out and make course corrections before it is too late.
Adaptability isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a hallmark of a leader who’s willing to learn, evolve, and lead effectively.
Lesson 3: Psychological Safety is a Game Changer
At its core, psychological safety means people feel respected and valued. But its impact goes beyond morale—it has measurable effects on performance and retention. People want to feel valued and respected which require psychological safety and trust.
Consider these statistics:
60% of employees who do not feel psychologically safe feel burned out and 34% are considering quitting their job. Conversely, if they feel psychologically safe, only 5% feel burned out and only 3% are considering quitting their job.
There are tons of other compelling statistics about the impact of psychologically safety, and ignoring that treating people well and making them feel safe is just the right thing to do, employee retention should be enough of a reason to work on psychological safety in your organization.
Losing good people costs you money. I’ve read statistics ranging from half an annual salary to one and a half times annual salary as a cost to replace an employee (considering time for recruiting, hiring and training along with lost productivity during transition).
According to Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, trust is foundational for strong teams. Without psychological safety, trust cannot exist. Creating psychological safety starts with small actions, like genuinely recognizing contributions or inviting feedback.
Lesson 4: Proactive Communication Prevents Problems
Proactive communication minimizes misunderstandings, reduces stress and enhances problem solving.
Reactive communication, which is what we often do instead of proactive communication, creates frustration, resentment and leads to confusion and chaos.
Reactive communication is waiting for a client to discover a mistake before addressing it. Proactive communication is reaching out immediately to explain the issue and outline next steps.
People often believe that they need to have all the answers before they say anything, which is not true. Start the conversation and be honest about what you don’t yet know and give a timeline for when you will be able to follow up with the answers or the rest of the information.
Don’t wait until someone discovers a problem before alerting them to it.
Communication is a critical skill. Those who can incorporate proactivity into their communication are even more valuable. It’s okay not to have all the answers. What matters is starting the conversation with transparency and committing to follow up.
Lesson 5: Self-Care is Leadership Care
A burned-out leader can’t effectively inspire or support their team. Self-care isn’t indulgence; it’s essential for sustainable leadership.
When we feel burned-out, things feel harder; we don’t want to do things that we should do. We dread meetings and projects. When burnout takes hold, even the simplest tasks feel overwhelming, and the passion you once had starts to fade.
Self-care is often trivialized or made to seem “fluffy” but it isn’t; it’s critical to long term sustainability.
Years ago, I ignored this lesson, and it led to burnout. I learned the hard way that leadership without self-care isn’t sustainable.
Self-care is defined by you. It might be bubble baths and candles, but it might not be. It is what you need to do to replenish yourself physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. A workout or a dinner with a friend, reading a book, attending church – it will look different for each of us.
It isn’t one and done, however; it’s an ongoing process and commitment. Even the airlines recognize it – in the safety instructions, they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others.
Self-care isn’t just for you—it’s for the people who rely on you to lead with clarity and energy.
Practical Takeaways:
Consider some of these tangible ideas to implement the lessons shared:
Empathy
Practice active listening
Ask open ended questions
Approach others with the assumption that they’re doing their best.
Work on understanding perspectives other than your own
Adaptability
Embrace a growth mindset
Seek diverse perspectives
Reflect during and after projects to determine if you could improve
Accept mistakes as learning opportunities and encourage people to admit when they make a mistake
Psychological Safety
Develop your emotional intelligence so you don’t react poorly
Model vulnerability
Ask “What is one thing that makes us better?”
Recognize Contributions
Proactive Communication
Predict problems and address them
Be transparent about sharing issues as they arise
Regularly check in with your team to gauge understanding and uncover challenges
Create feedback loops.
Self-Care
Develop effective routines.
Set Boundaries
Self-Reflection (eg. Ask yourself questions like “Am I showing up as my best self today and if not, what can I do about it?”
Schedule self-care activities into your calendar
Looking ahead to 2025
Lessons serve as stepping stones for the growth we’ll achieve in 2025.
What lessons have you learned this year and how will they shape your leadership in the coming year?
Take time this month to reflect on your leadership journey. Celebrate your wins and learn from your challenges, and set your sights on the leader you want to be in 2025.
What’s Next:
Complete a DISC assessment and get coaching individually, or as team training
Sign up for Leadership Toolbox
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