As another year comes to a close, I begin looking to the new year with new and improved plans and goals. Of course, that is likely not that uncommon. However, maybe the questions I am asking are different from the ones you would consider normal. Maybe these year end review questions are ones we ALL should be asking each year – especially if we are serious about getting better results!
Year End Review
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I schedule time out of the office at the end of each year to review that year and to plan for the new one. For years, I have followed this process, tweaking it each year. If you are not currently doing this, I cannot recommend it strongly enough! I honestly see it as non-negotiable for a leader that is committed to success by any measurement.
While a critical part of my year end session includes goal setting for the new year, likely the most important component is my review of the prior year. Without knowing where I am and where I have come from, it is difficult to know which direction to head going forward. For this reason, I take the necessary time to dig into the prior year and ask tough questions.
C12’s Yearly Audit
As I continue to seek out new ideas and tools for productivity, effectiveness, and learning, I have come across many methods of reviewing prior performance. You probably have some of your own that work for you. While I have seen (and used) many such tools, I have found none more effective at getting to the root of my godly leadership performance than C12’s Yearly Audit.
I have shared this segment in whole in the past, but this year I have pulled out what I believe are the most critical questions relating to your business. The following questions may not be meaningful to all business leaders, but for those who understand their God-given leadership roles, these questions are priceless!
Year End Review Questions
I encourage you to go ahead and read through these questions now, but I strongly recommend you also save these questions for deeper review at a time when you can dig into them without interruption. Don’t miss the growth that can come from the focused review of your year with this tool.
- Are you pleased with the quantity and quality of time you spent alone with the Lord this past year, growing in your relationship with Him?
- Did you increasingly listen and relate to key team members with ears tuned to God and His purposes and eyes searching for ways to minister to your team’s needs?
- Did you improve in the way see suppliers, customers, employees, and others more as opportunities for personal ministry and less as objects to exploit for personal gain?
- Were you able to extricate yourself more (even slightly) from the grasp of materialism, stewarding your gifts with more of an open hand before the Lord?
- Imagine God were to tell you that your current situation will not improve, that this is the best your life will ever be. To what degree can you honestly say, “Thank you, Father, I already enjoy more than I deserve or need?”
- If you believe that (1) your business is a gift from God, (2) as His steward, you are to run it with excellence and honor Him, then how well have you mustered the time and will to learn and apply better ways to steward as you serve?
- If eternal fruit* is defined as “lives turned toward God,” then did you see more eternal fruit produced as a result of your business this past year?
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*examples might include: people more favorably aware that you work as an Ambassador for Christ in and around your business, needy people helped through or as a result of your business because God entrusted it to your care, people that were helped know it was because you love God and minister in His name, more Christians influenced to grow in their faith as you conduct business in a way that reflects Christ, your own growth in humble but firm servant leadership according to Scriptural principles, etc.
Take The Time!
As I mentioned above, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of taking time out of your normal schedule to review your year with these questions. Of course, the next step after that is to determine the steps you need to take in order to improve in the coming year! Use the awareness you gain from these questions to inspire your planning and goal setting for this year.
Progress, Not Perfection!
One final note: please do NOT get frustrated by what may currently seem like impossible standards represented by the questions above. If this is new to you, there will likely be so many opportunities for improvement that you feel overwhelmed or even depressed. Don’t accept it! I have been using this tool for 10 years now and I still see significant gaps in my own performance!
Instead, I urge you to focus on measuring your progress toward the goal, not the current distance between you and your goal. It is too easy to get derailed and stuck when you focus on the apparent chasm between you and the standards you see represented here. If you will focus on one step at a time, you will begin to see the progress you desire.
Do you already have a habit of year end review and planning?
What questions do you ask in review of the prior year?
Which of these questions gives you the most trouble?
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