Introduction: A Timeless Practice for Reflection
We’re posting this at the end of 2023. And my goal today is to share one of my favorite year-end practices – Creating a personal highlight reel.
Timeless Reflection: Beyond Year-End
But frankly, I think this practice suits at the end of a quarter or even a month. So don’t sweat if you’re listening to this smack in the middle of a year. It’s an exercise that never goes out of fashion.
The Power of Your Mental Montage
Cinematic Inspiration for Workplace Reflection
So, let’s chat about this highlight reel. It’s kind of like the montage scene toward the end of literally every movie made in the 1980’s. It’s the collection of snapshots that, strung together, tell a story of moments totally worth remembering and celebrating.
Workplace Montage: Shaping Your Narrative
In the workplace, it may not be so literal. But it’s the mental montage you compile – those moments that you deserve to see strung together, to help you remember all the greatness you bring to the table.
Impactful Reflection: Self-Esteem, Personal Brand, and Career
Boosting Your Self-Esteem
How do you collect these? Well… scan through delightful emails (or texts or slacks) you’ve received. Reflect on conversations you’ve had in which someone was singing your praises. Ask for feedback. Look back at your own development plan and track actions you’ve taken on that course.
Done thoughtfully, this can have some pretty big impacts.
Shaping Your Personal Brand
Like, on…
- Your self-esteem: Recognizing all the good you did or felt in a year can just remind you of how important you are – to your organization or your clients or a colleague. Remember. How you feel about yourself; the value you believe you bring to your company – absolutely has an impact on how you show up. So don’t shy away from doing this solely for the purpose of a self-esteem boost.
- Your personal brand: Seeing the themes in what you’ve been called upon to inform or deliver over and over again that make your insight or expertise an asset to those around you. Knowing what makes you stand out as an expert – whether in doing or thinking or supporting – helps you be thoughtful in growing and promoting those skills and perspectives. This is what shapes your personal brand.
- Your allure as a candidate: If the time comes for you to find a new role – whether internal or external to your current company, having a clear sense of what you do well, what you’ve been celebrated and sought out for – can really help you both find the right opportunities, and sell your value to the hiring leader.
Areas of Focus for a Winning Reel
What You’ve Delivered, Influenced, or Contributed To
So…what do you focus on? Where do you pull these moments from?
Initiatives Touched and Wins Celebrated
Maybe it’s obvious but start by focusing on the big outcomes – the projects or decisions or campaigns or changes – that wouldn’t have taken the shape they took without your contribution.
Informed Directions and Shared Wins
Did you do the research that fueled a campaign that led to sales? Did you talk to a collection of clients or patients or students whose feedback you used to inform a winning approach? Did you recommend a simple change to a process or program that enabled a faster or more effective outcome? I’m not asking you to focus only on things you started and finished and carried the whole way by yourself. I’m asking you to think about the initiatives you touched, whose direction you informed, and whose wins are partly yours to celebrate.
What You’ve Learned, Grown, or Challenged Yourself to Do
So the next category I love to capture has nothing, necessarily, to do with outputs that anyone else can see.
Developing Skills and Capabilities
Skills and capabilities you’ve developed this year, challenges you’ve faced head on – these all benefit your company.
Unseen Growth and Challenges Overcome
Maybe you got certified in a new program or a coaching methodology – and you can do things next year that otherwise would have had to be outsourced. Maybe you took some LinkedIn Learning courses on prioritization or project management or communication – and you plan to unleash that skill on your team in the coming year. Maybe you stepped outside your comfort zone to speak at a conference or volunteer to lead a project that felt like a stretch. And now you’re ready to do even bigger things next year. You may be the only one who knows of these achievements. So don’t look for celebratory emails from anyone else. Spend a few minutes capturing the knowledge and skill you’ve curated this year – it’ll be an asset your company won’t even see coming!
What You’ve Tested, Tried, or Experimented With
Embracing Failure for Future Success
So not all success looks like success at first. Some of our greatest wins grow out of the willingness to fail. To lose.
Taking Calculated Risks
What experiments did you challenge yourself to take on this year? What sure thing did you pass on to take a chance on something bigger or better?
A Risk that Paid Off
One of my clients leads a sales team. Every year they sponsor a handful of industry events which generates a predictable – if not overwhelmingly exciting – set of leads.
This year, she took a risk. Tried something different. Instead of having her team all stand together on a trade floor at their booth, she asked each of them to attend – and speak at – a smaller conference of their choice. On any topic. Any industry.
At the end of each conference, they had zero leads. And she took some serious heat for it. But by year-end? Their leads had nearly doubled. People having heard the talks delivered by her team members had been impressed. And over time began reaching out. This strategy had no track record. It was a big ol’ risk. But one she was willing to take. And lucky for her company she did!
Who You’ve Served, Supported, Expanded
Because finally, humanity matters. And not all of the highlights in our reel are about us alone. We talk a lot about workplace wellness and a positive employee experience, and those depend largely on the human element.
Reflecting on Your Impact
Whether you’re looking to expand into a leadership role, you want to become a coach or a mentor, or you just wanna be seen as an all-around stand-out collaborator – spend a few minutes reflecting on the people you’ve served this year.
Acts of Generosity and Support
How did you help foster your team’s sense of trust and connection? Where did you step in to help a colleague who was clearly overwhelmed? What feedback did you bravely offer that a peer took and ran with to great success? Did you offer someone a chance in the spotlight – to present to a senior leader just to give them that extra bump of exposure?
Generosity of Spirit
Your generosity of spirit belongs, without a doubt, in a prominent spot in your highlight reel.
You might also like this article on promoting yourself at work without feeling icky.
Conclusion: Celebrating Yourself
So as you’ve collected and curated the delightful bits of your year. Be honest. Are you feeling pretty proud to be you? I hope so. You deserve to. We all deserve to celebrate ourselves.