Dear Reader,
As we head towards the end of the year, many of us will be preparing for performance reviews. Either our own, or those of the people we lead.
I have been thinking about two questions. Have we kept a shared understanding of what success looks like? And are we recognising the full contribution we expect from senior leaders?
Does your board see what you see?
At the start of this year, I wrote about something I encourage new CEOs to do: agree three clear priorities for their first year with the board.
Three things that would make a meaningful difference and give everyone confidence that the organisation is heading in the right direction.
But agreeing those priorities is only half the work.
A CEO I work with was reminded of this the hard way. They had worked closely with the People Committee on their performance and assumed that alignment extended to the wider board.
It didn’t.
Different expectations had developed, and the tension ultimately contributed to their transition. Looking back, they wished they had engaged the wider board themselves, rather than relying on the committee to do it.
Their reflection has stayed with me.
Your board needs to understand your leadership in real time, not reconstruct it in hindsight.
That means returning to the priorities throughout the year. Making progress visible. Being honest about what is proving harder than expected. Agreeing what needs to change when circumstances shift.
It also means being clear about who needs to be involved. Your Chair, People Committee and wider board may all have a role. Alignment in one part of the board does not automatically mean alignment everywhere.
And are we looking at the whole job?
There is another question underneath all of this: what should we actually be reviewing?
Revenue, budget, reach and progress against strategy all matter. Senior leaders remain accountable for results.
But the more senior you become, the more your contribution depends on creating the conditions for other people to succeed.
Are you building a team that can make good decisions without you? Do people understand what matters most? Can they make sensible trade offs without escalating everything? Are you developing the people who will take on greater responsibility?
And perhaps one of the most useful questions:
Is the organisation becoming less dependent on you?
These things are harder to measure. That does not make them optional.
When setting and reviewing goals for senior leaders, I find it useful to look at three dimensions:
Results
What do you need to achieve?
Organisational health
What needs to become stronger so those results can be sustained?
Leadership
What do you personally need to do differently, build or let go of to lead effectively at this level?
Someone can deliver this year’s targets while leaving behind an exhausted team, weak decision making or an organisation that relies on them for everything. The review needs to make room for that conversation too.
Before you close out the year
Whether you are a CEO working with your board or a leader reviewing your team, I would make space for these questions:
- Where do we agree on what has gone well, and where do our views differ?
- What have we strengthened beyond this year’s results?
- What feedback have we heard from the people experiencing our leadership?
- What should we carry forward, change or stop next year?
If expectations have drifted, surface that now. If important leadership work has gone unrecognised, make it visible. And if success has never been clearly defined, use this conversation to agree it for the year ahead.
A good review should include honest accountability and useful learning. It should also leave both sides clearer about what comes next.
What would make your year end review a more useful conversation?
I would be interested to hear what has worked for you, or where you are finding this difficult. Just reply to this email.
Warmly,
Liz
Strategic Advisor | Former CEO | Founder, Volante
Based in Kenya, available globally
