The Top 5 Lessons I Kept Learning in 2022

I continue to be an imperfect leader focused on being more intentional in the words I use, the behaviors I demonstrate, and the activities I do.

?2022 was another challenging year with significant opportunities to learn or re-learn.?

Here are my top five lessons from 2022 (in no particular order):

Life is too short to do things that don’t bring you joy or aren’t part of an intentional focus.

Sometimes we start something that aligns with what we want to be doing, but then we realize it’s no longer a good fit.

Sometimes we say yes to things we feel we should do, and they drain us.

Sometimes we say yes because we’re not sure what we want to be doing.

As I completed year three of being a solopreneur, I’ve continued to assess and learn where I want to spend my time.?Throughout these years, I joined different networking groups and membership associations; I’ve worked with a variety of coaching and people advisory clients; I taught several courses at a local university; I participated on a non-profit board; published some of my writing; and launched a few Facebook groups.?

Some of these activities I loved.?

Some were ok.?

And, some didn’t turn out to be what I really wanted to do or was good at.

As I head into 2023, I’ve refined where I will spend my time, being more intentional by focusing on the areas that bring me joy and where I believe I can make the greatest impact.

?Be willing to try things you know will be hard or scare you.

This lesson I learned predominantly through my athletic activities.?I did three things this year that were hard and scary:

o??Did a sprint triathlon that started by jumping off a ferry for the start of the swim.?It was a blast!

o??Participated in a Ragnar trail relay in Vermont.?I’m not a trail runner and didn’t have a lot of elevation practice leading up to the race.?It was hard, but I loved it, and we’re doing it again in 2023.

o??Ran my 3rd (and likely final) marathon with a significant PR goal.?I did the training and made my goal time by seconds.

For 2023, I’ll continue to try some hard athletic goals, but I also want to be brave and try new things with my business – shifting my brand, launching a new program, and who knows what else.

?“If you build it, they will come” isn’t a complete strategy.

This one should have been obvious to me, but I decided I wanted to just keep pushing forward and seeing what would happen.?I published my two books on Amazon in March but didn’t spend a lot of time promoting my work because it felt a bit overwhelming, but also because it felt like people wouldn’t want to hear me talking about the same thing over and over.?My books have sold, but mostly to people that know me and want to support me.?I will continue to promote this content through my speaking opportunities in 2023.?Here’s a link to my Amazon author page if you’re interested in the books.

I still didn’t learn the lesson when I tried to launch a new online leadership program in the fall.?For 2023, I will work on a re-launch of the offering.

I am launching a women's leadership program for March, and I’m working on making sure my strategy for launching it is more complete.

Being known for something is part of playing the long game.

Whether you work for an employer or yourself, it’s critical to be known for doing something well.?Even if you’re more of a generalist, you need to be known for that.?

Test yourself today – what do you think you’re known for, and what do you want to be known for?

As I look at the advisory clients that I had the opportunity to work with this year or am prepared to work with next year, they have come to me because they know that I can take a broad view of what’s going on and then create a plan to address the issue.?

???They know that I have a breadth of HR/talent experience.

??They know that I can do both strategy and execution.

??They know that I follow through.?

??They know they can trust me.

??They know I will always have a point of view but am also focused on learning more.

Being known for these things gives me confidence that people in my network will think of me when they have opportunities where I can help them or their colleagues.

Relationships are everything.

We want to spend time with people we enjoy being around, whom we learn from, that respect us, and who help us.?Whether we think about personal or professional relationships, I think these all still come into play.

When we get busy or are under stress, it’s easy to fall out of the practice of nurturing our relationships.?Building and maintaining relationships takes effort. In our personal lives, there are likely people that will always show up for us because of the foundation we built early on.?In our professional life, where relationships can be more transitional based on employers or work assignments, it requires a greater effort to stay in touch and nurture the relationship.

The past few years, with the pandemic's impacts, have tested our ability to build and maintain relationships.?I know I’ve been challenged, but I’m working on building, rebuilding, and maintaining my personal and professional relationships.

Over the past year, I’ve built some new relationships online, some still surface-level and some bordering on friendships, and I’ve worked to start re-engaging with colleagues that I’ve worked with in the past.?For 2023, I aim to prioritize building new relationships and deepening those I already have.?Be prepared for a coffee-catch-up invitation from me soon if we haven’t talked in a while, and send me one if you want to catch up.

I know there have been many more lessons that 2022 has taught me, but these are the highlights I’m taking into 2023.

?What lessons have you learned from your 2022 experiences?

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Here are some ways to access further perspectives, tips, and resources:

★ Follow me on?LinkedIn?to join the conversation on my posts, and ring the bell ?? on the right-hand side of my name to receive my new posts.

★ Subscribe to my LinkedIn Newsletters -?Imperfect Leader Reflections newsletter, published every other Friday, and this monthly?People Strategies Matter?newsletter.?I also share a personal view of leadership with my Saturday newsletter, Excelling as an Imperfect Leader.

★ Reach out to me directly at?[email protected]?or via my?website.