Leadership Seasons & Rituals

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

There are six weeks left in 2021, and I am acutely aware of the season change into winter and the warm-but-frantic end of year period with Thanksgiving, December, and the New Year. Many of us are acutely aware of seasonality in our personal lives, with the upcoming holidays as simply one example. Seasonality contrasts summer and the school year if we’re recent college grads or have children. Seasonality is the recognition of the shorter days and longer nights or celebration of yearly rituals.

In addition to our personal lives, seasonality also exists within a professional context. Taking advantage of the right seasons for you is one way to amplify your leadership growth. Here’s how.

1. Be aware of the seasonality within your career

I’m broadly using the term “seasonality” to refer to periods of time, ranging from months to quarters to years, and the intentional transition between them. Think about the different seasons you encounter in your professional life.

Looking at the time scale of weeks / months / quarters, each “season” will have different characteristics, for example:

• The quarter close acceleration to hit sales numbers or other key metrics
• Important projects with a kick-off, heads-down busy execution, and launch