A new year brings opportunity for reflection and intention-setting. 2021 was one of the most disruptive years in modern memory. 2022 looks poised to get up out of its seat, look 2021 in the face, and say: “hold my beer.” Most of what the year ahead throws at us will be out of our control even though we will be asked to engage emerging realities like climate change and the ripples they send throughout our worklife. Taking time to consider how we might approach the year ahead serves our communities and the people who animate them. As is my New Years Day practice, I will craft my bold goals for 2022 in a journal as I stare out into nature and consider what matters most.
Intention unlocks potential
With a clear purpose, investments in energy, and transformative habits, we can realize our potential every day. For me, this means growing as a cooperative leader who grows more cooperative leaders through learning and social chemistry. With an unpredictable year ahead, I’m drawn to leadership/followership expert Ann Brewer’s thinking, as she argues that leadership is rarely about marginally improving performance within the status quo, rather it is about:
- Venturing into existing or unknown domains to establish a new direction (similar to speculating resources);
- Innovation: opening up new areas of thought, research, or development;
- Goal-centric: constructing through demolition (physical and metaphorically) and rebuilding a new institution;
- Pioneering: trailblazing a new way of thinking for an existing institution and rendering it more fertile or productive in a new or existing venture(s); and
- Educating: informing or changing people’s opinions (p. 140).
We are beyond the status quo, folks. The year ahead promises to accelerate existing trends, such as climate action, racial reckoning, and the Great Resignation/Reshuffling/Reset/Retention. Janelle Aaker recently shared her intentions for 2022 (we share the one about the ancient disciplines) and they present a straightforward and awesome roadmap for how leaders might adapt to and/or shape such trends with their power. Setting intentions about how we show up in worklife or crafting bold goals for the progress that we want to make over time are important practices for leaders who want to transform communities.
Embrace ancient disciplines
Solitude, silence, and stillness make me uncomfortable because I like people, noise, and movement (surrounded by noisy people). I know that I need to quiet the highway of noise around me. I also know that folks who approach mastery of the 3Ss are more likely to achieve harmony in their worklife. How do I know that this practice is important? I went for a 4km walk today with no headphones and, while I consistently acknowledged the snowy beauty of the landscape, my mind was going bonkers because I stepped off the highway of noise for a few minutes. Getting comfortable with quiet will ground me in the present and, I think, make me a better listener, too.
Focus on sleep
This will be my gamechanger-of-a-goal for the year. I can feel it. Over the years I have developed the bad habit drifting off to sleep to the sound of podcasts or Archer and Brooklyn 99 reruns (often after working, reading, listening, watching, and/or writing after a reasonable bedtime). Every neuroscientist and LeBron James will tell you that such a habit measurably reduces my willpower. All of it is compounded by my sorta-good-habit of waking up at 5am most days. My sleep isn’t realizing its potential and I’m waking up super-early to … maximize my mornings … to realize … my … potential? Such a cycle must change for the better.
Have courage to be disliked
I lead with the strength of WOO (winning others over) and my cooperative leadership from my ability to inspire strong connections between people and an organization’s purpose. The downside is that I inconsistently approach difficult conversations when I assume that I will hurt someone’s feelings, lose an ally, or impact a future opportunity. I need to remember that communities create a sense of belonging only when we accept ourselves for who we are. Evaluating who are the folks doing the disliking is important, too, as I want to ensure that I am creating what Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga call “horizontal relationships” throughout my worklife because people shouldn’t see ourselves as above or below each other.
What are your bold goals for 2022?