Do you have your journal handy? Let’s spend some time today in reflection.

What are the three hardest aspects of your job? Write them down.

Next to each one, list the reason for the difficulty.

Then, imagine yourself persevering through each of the three areas, and write the rewards you will earn by enduring.

Now that you have greater clarity, what actions will you take to make them reality and move forward, intentionally and confidently, into your future?

What challenging situation is your team facing right now? How can you lead them to persevere in the midst of these challenges?

Let’s develop a plan:

What’s the situation?

What are the challenges?

How will you lead them through this time?

What milestones will you celebrate?

How will you recognize and reinforce the behaviors your team needs to demonstrate in order to be successful?

What do you think you might learn about yourself and your team-mates through this experience?

What past principles have you learned that will serve to give you confidence going forward?

How will this make a difference for your team?

Who do you want them to experience about your leadership through this time?

Once you’ve taken the time to thoughtfully answer these questions, step forward and lead your team confidently to success!

They say experience is the best teacher. I beg to differ…Experience is the best teacher when we choose to reflect on our experience and learn the lessons inherent in them. This is when we gain wisdom. If we don’t do the reflection, then we have merely lived through a string of experiences.

Sometimes, we don’t recognize the lesson until much later, following an experience; it may be days, weeks, months, even years later before we can see the positive impact a challenging time had on us.

Think back to a difficult season in your life. What was it and how did you face it?

Looking back, what benefits were there for you as a result of that difficult time, that you weren’t able to see then? (Did the situation redirect your path in life? Did it bring you closer to family, friends, co-workers? Did it prepare you in some way for your current work or some other challenge you’ve faced since then?)

How does your new perspective motivate you to persevere as a leader in your current situation, know that there are unforeseen rewards on the other side?