As a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, it pains me to do this, but I have to note the leadership Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow illustrates. Even though the Steelers and Bengals have a hate/hate relationship, good leadership is always important to highlight!
I was watching their game yesterday against the Atlanta Falcons in France. It started out relatively close, but the Bengals eventually built up a significant lead. Then came their first drive in the 4th quarter where they were forced to punt after going 3 and out. Even though the Bengals were winning by two touchdowns, and victory was almost a foregone conclusion, when they came off the field Joe Burrow was visibly frustrated as he reviewed the series on the bench. Why? The game was in hand, it didn’t really matter if they went three and out as long as they were taking as much time as possible, so what’s the big deal?
The “big deal” is that Joe Burrow demands excellence from himself and from his teammates. He is striving for perfection, and good enough isn’t really good enough. He’s always looking for ways to improve his game. This isn’t the first time either. After their game against the Raiders (which they also won handily) he made a comment that he wouldn’t “ignore the bad and dwell on the great”. In other words, he has a mindset of winning while demanding more.
As good leaders, we should be adopting that same kind of mindset. While it’s important to celebrate our “wins” it’s equally important to understand our shortcomings and be looking for ways to improve. Practically this means frequently looking back to see what lessons can be learned as we move forward. Not dwelling on the past of course, but providing an analytical assessment of what went right, and what could’ve been done better. I recommend doing this after any major accomplishment but also to not stop there. We should always be looking to make ourselves better than we were the day before.
A cadence I recommend is:
10 - 15 minutes at the end of the day to review what happened and what didn’t.
A weekly review of everything that happened the week prior. Many do this, but only to create a to-do list of follow ups for the next week. That’s great, but it shouldn’t stop there. It’s important to also think about what lessons we learned as we moved forward.
Finally, we should be sitting down at the end of every month to assess our growth for that month. How are we different now than I was at the beginning of the month? How am I the same? What else can I do to make the next month even better?
Let me add that this is the cadence that works for me. When I do this on a regular basis, I feel less stressed and overwhelmed and more focused. The opposite is also often true. If I feel stressed and overwhelmed, when I look back I notice I haven’t been doing my reviews. However you may find a different cadence works better for you, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The important thing is that the evaluation, and the push for excellence is always happening.
So I ask you… What are you celebrating? How are you working towards being a better version of yourself? Do you notice a difference when you take time to reflect? To start building this muscle today, make it a point to hold a brief, honest post-mortem after your next big success—don't wait for a failure to start asking what could be improved.
