To Ask Yourself Before January 1st
Annual Review Questions for Leaders
These seven questions are designed for personal reflection, helping leaders assess their year, clarify their vision, and prepare for what's next. Unlike team coaching questions, these are for YOU to answer about YOUR leadership journey.
Leaders who regularly reflect on their performance, goals, and growth outperform those who don't. Year-end is the perfect time to step back, assess where you are, and intentionally design where you're going. These seven questions provide a structured framework for that reflection.
Purpose: Clarify your goals and aspirations for the coming year. What does success look like for you personally and professionally?
Purpose: Recognize your achievements and wins from the past year. Celebrating progress builds confidence and momentum.
Purpose: Define your approach. How will you achieve what you want? What's your theory of how to win?
Purpose: Focus your efforts. If you could only accomplish one thing next year, what would have the biggest impact?
Purpose: Identify support required. No leader succeeds alone. What resources, people, or skills do you need?
Purpose: Create focus through elimination. What distractions, commitments, or habits will you stop to make room for priorities?
Purpose: Extract wisdom from experience. What lessons from this year will you carry forward?
These questions are for your own reflection, not for coaching others. For coaching team members in conversations, see the 10-Minute Coaching Session which provides questions designed to help others think through their challenges.
| 7 Big Coaching Questions | 10-Minute Coaching Session |
|---|---|
| For self-reflection | For coaching others |
| Annual/quarterly review | Ongoing conversations |
| Strategic and big-picture | Tactical and immediate |
The best leaders are intentional about their own development. Use these questions annually to assess where you are, celebrate your progress, and design your path forward. Self-aware leaders build stronger teams and achieve better results.
