@0:05 - Tabatha Jones (empowered-leader.com)
Welcome back to Empowered Leadership Coaching with Tabitha, the podcast that helps Gen X
women leaders like you take the driver's seat and their careers and accelerate toward their goals.
I have a question for you. How do you approach your year-end review? Do you look in with an
agenda, ready to talk about your accomplishments, maybe your upcoming goals and
development needs?
Or do you treat it like that dreaded parent-teacher conference where you walk in feeling kind of
cringy, not knowing what to expect, leaving it completely in your leaders' hands?
In my own leadership career, where many of you know I spent more than 20 years leading
technical teams in the telecom industry, in my own leadership experience, 85% of people treated
it more like a parent-teacher conference.
Even my direct reports, who were leaders, would often leave it to me to remember their
accomplishments, to know what really mattered the most to them, and to even have a budget for
their trading needs, even though they couldn't always tell me what their goals or training needs
were.
So I want you to write this down, and I want you to think about it a little bit later after you've
listened to this podcast and had some time to reflect.
Write down, what would it feel like I took control of my year end review conversation? You
work hard, ladies, probably more than anyone notices, and it's really easy to assume your boss
knows everything you do and what matters the most to you, but you cannot rely on others to
keep track of your achievements.
Just like we didn't rely on our parents to keep track of our locations when we were growing up as
long as we were home by dark, right?
Your leader cannot remember everything, so it's up to you to take control and change the story.
This review is your opportunity to own the conversation, to truly direct your career path and your
advancement as you go forward, and it is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate your
leadership abilities and skills.
This is one of the most overlooked opportunities to have a fabulous career conversation and set
the tone for the new year.
So let's kick it off strong. I'll tell you a little bit about my own story with my own video
experience early in my career, and I used to dread annual reviews.
I was a great employee, but I'm also an overachiever, surprise, surprise, and a bit of a
perfectionist. Also, I'm still not doing my podcast on YouTube.
Nobody again. I'm not there, but we'll get there. Anyway, I digress. So I would walk into that
review, just hoping that my boss was paying attention and knew how many late nights I had put
in and how many fires I had put out.
And was hoping she'd give me some really great feedback other than you're doing a good job,
keep it up.
I just felt like I wasn't getting what I needed out of these conversations. Then I decided I needed
to change some things.
I started going in prepared. The first time I did this, my boss could have probably been knocked
out of her chair with a feather, but I went in armed with really specific information, highlighting
the impact I was making on the business.
I shared stories of things I had achieved and feedback I had received from peers and business
partners. It completely shifted the way my year, not my rear end, definitely my year end reviews
went from that point forward.
I started getting more recognition. Rather than leaving frustrated because there was no budget for
whatever education I didn't know I needed, I started getting approval to attend conferences and
pay for courses.
It was wonderful. I actually was able to get some seminars paid for that I had been dying to
attend because I was able to articulate what I would get out of it and how it would benefit the
business.
And that's when I learned the power of taking control of my own story. So, if you take nothing
from this today, I want you to remember there is a lot of power in owning your own story in
every aspect of life and it really comes through in this year end review process.
There's a couple of things that might be holding you back from preparing. might be thinking, ah,
I must already knows what I'm done or, ah, I don't really feel like I should be bragging.
The reality is your leader has a lot on their plate and likely more than just one direct report. So,
she can't always remember every when you've had, she can't always know what's most important
to you.
Now, hopefully you listened to my podcast about one-on-one formatting and agenda, because if
you did, you will already be well-positioned for this conversation.
But if that's new for you, I want you to remember your boss cannot remember every single thing
you did.
Preparing for the conversation, it's not about bragging, it's about confidently taking credit and
ensuring that your work is recognized.
And it's also about making sure that you are clear on your future goals, so your leader knows
how to support you.
Now, a couple of other benefits of preparing for your annual review and being really proactive is,
one, it absolutely improves communication.
It's more of a productive conversation, rather than just that, hey, you did a great job, here's your
report card, you're too pretty.
sense. Right? It's a productive conversation. It demonstrates your communication ability. It
demonstrates your proactivity and you're going to walk in there feeling a lot more confident and
you're going to walk out feeling a lot more satisfied.
The next advantage or benefit of preparing for your review is that it really helps build trust
between you and your leader.
Taking that initiative shows you're serious about your career and you're open to talking to your
leader about it and asking for what you need.
That's a great trust building opportunity. The third benefit and this is my favorite is it puts you
back in the driver's seat of your career.
If you've my book promotion ready in three months the women's guide to career advancement
that is actually on the cover.
Don't give anyone else control of your career advancement. You need to get in the driver's seat.
Girlfriends, we expect so many other people to notice that we're working
and just be paying attention, letting other people drive our career, your year-end review is your
opportunity to get that first move, take that first move and get back in the driver's seat, share
your accomplishments with confidence, and then guide how others understand your impact and
the value you bring to the company.
The fourth benefit is it does get you better positioned for advancement. As I said earlier, it lets
you highlight your leadership ability.
It gives you an opportunity to share with your leader how you've grown. What are you doing
differently? What did you do differently in 2024 compared to what you were doing in 2023?
Is it a direct result of some feedback that you were given? Is it a result of some training
opportunities?
What is it and how advancement opportunity? So if you ways to prepare like a pro, number one
is complete a self evaluation if there's an opportunity for it.
I was leading teams of 50ish people and probably 10 to 15% would even bother with their self
evaluation or they would just put in maybe five to 10 minutes.
Five to 10 minutes cannot capture a year's worth of accomplishments and success and growth
unless you're really, really good at tracking these things which I highly recommend but most
people aren't.
So take the time, invest the hour or so or maybe multiple times 10 15 minutes at a time
completing your self evaluation.
Go through your 2024 goals and achievements, highlight what you've accomplished. Take credit
if you've received recognition awards, positive feedback.
Get it. there. Now, I'm going to pause just a second to tap on that just a little bit more.
You don't have to write a novel. It doesn't have to be that hard, but definitely take some care and
make sure that for each section on that self evaluation, you're mapping out the top two to three
things that matter and demonstrate your impact so that it's really clear and it's front and the next,
which is number two, steps are preparing like a pro.
I've mentioned this a bit, but demonstrating your growth and development. Highlight your new
skills, new knowledge, any new responsibility that you've taken on.
Gosh, over my career, I shared with you in that first 10 years as a leader, I was constantly taking
on more and more responsibility.
Had I outlined it, it might have painted a better, more clear, and strong picture. I later to see that I
definitely was ready for what was next, that next promotion opportunity.
So take the time to demonstrate and highlight all of those new skills, knowledge, and
responsibilities so that you can show that growth and development.
And then after you've taken time to complete your self evaluation, just create a really quick
outline. Again, just highlight those key achievements, key growth areas and goals for 2025 so
that you make sure to check the boxes, basically, to bring each of those items into the
conversation.
One of the big things to consider is what is it that you want next year? Do you want to be
promoted?
If so, write it down. Write it down as a smart goal. By July of 2020. Five, I want to be promoted
to director of operations at this company.
Start mapping that stuff out and getting really clear about it. I mean, how many times have you
been in your year end review and your leader said, so what's next for you?
And you go, Oh, I don't know. What do you think is next for me? Or I haven't really thought
about it.
Come on. You've been thinking about that promotion for years. So be brave, be bold, write it
down, don't get caught, you know, just kind of hanging out there with no answer.
Make sure that goal is ready. Before the conversation, if you're feeling a little bit uncomfortable
or a little less confident, practice the conversation with a friend or a coach.
I'm happy to offer a session. I offer some hourly sessions. They're very rare, but I'm happy to do
an hourly roleplay session with you to kind of talk through it and give you some feedback and
help you with position.
conditioning. You can also practice with a friend, preferably someone who's in leadership, who's
possibly going to be shocked that you're so prepared, but take the time to practice until you feel
more confident and the words are flowing freely.
Then when your review is scheduled, it needs to be at least an hour. One of my biggest pet
peeves is working, however many days, well, we know we work 365 days, but let's just say 300
days in the year.
I'm off. don't do math. don't do date math. So let's say you've worked almost 300 days this year
and you have a half an hour scheduled for your annual review.
If that happens, politely reach out to your leader and request an hour. Hey, I have some things
prepared that I want to talk to you about during my review.
I would love to get an hour on your calendar just so we have time to cover the information I want
to share.
Then you set the agenda when you get in that room, just say, hey, I really would like to share
some of my top achievements.
I want to talk about my areas of growth and I'd love to talk about my goals for next year.
That'll just keep things focused and on track for you. Now, you might have figured out through
this podcast. I'm a bit of a chatty person.
I'm very chatty. can chat about it. So, what can happen sometimes is it's a slippery slope, right? I
build relationships and trust really easily and quickly because I can talk to people, I'm extremely
empathetic, I listen.
But where that can hurt me and it can hurt you, if you're also one of my chatty sisters, is it can
cause you to forget to bring those key points into the conversation.
So, make sure that you stay organized and even if the conversation goes off track a little bit,
maybe you go down the rabbit hole on one of your achievements, make sure you bring it back to
your
areas of growth and you don't just skip over it. Make sure that you leave room to ask your leader
for their input.
It is a two-way conversation. You just want to get in there and make sure that you're getting your
greatness across in the conversation.
And ask for constructive feedback. A lot of times during an annual review, the leader does their
best. Your leader will do their best give.
They don't always give you strong feedback that's both positive and constructive. So in advance,
if you feel comfortable with it, let your leader know.
want this to be a wonderful conversation. I would love to get to walk away with at least one
piece of solid positive feedback from you and one piece of constructive feedback that can help
me grow next year.
Now this conversation, It's kind of a big deal. It will set you up for success in the coming year,
which is 2025.
Every company seems to have a different review period. I know where I worked. The company
is Comcast and they have probably already or they're really close to wrapping up the employee
self evaluations for their annual reviews.
They'll deliver the final feedback and all of that in that February, March timeframe. Some
companies are on an exact calendar year.
Other companies, I have a client that works for a large company. She just had her year end
review in at the end of October.
So it really varies. Also, some companies have quarterly reviews. You can follow a very similar
format with your quarterly review and that just makes your annual review that much easier.
And it also starts shaking out some of the awkwardness because it's going to feel a little weird
the first few times you do it.
So with that, let's talk about a couple of do's and don'ts just such a who have them highlighted, so
do prepare your list of specific achievements and examples.
Make sure you use metrics wherever you can. Bonus tip, get that stuff on your resume. Just
saying, it's a good idea.
Number two, do create a list of your smart goals for the upcoming year, and in that list outline
any training or resources that you need.
Sometimes you don't need money, but you need time. Get comfortable asking for that. Hey, I
want to take this class.
It's an internal training. It's going to take 10 hours of my time. Do you approve? It's that simple,
but you have to have your goal so you can tie everything together.
Do you remember to present your areas of growth to show where you improved or where you've
made adjustments based on feedback?
And do take notes. Take really good notes and follow up with a summary of anything that you
agreed upon.
So whether for goals or next steps, or maybe you have some research to do to see if there are
similar training programs, or, you know, if you want to talk to a coach and get your coaching
approved, those types of things, make sure you keep good notes.
Follow up with just a summary email. This is what we agreed to. And then follow up. It's that
simple, ladies.
Don't, don't your leader remembers every single achievement. And don't assume that they
understand what's important to you. Don't minimize your accomplishments or growth areas.
You've worked hard. You deserve that recognition. So get in there. Do not minimize your
accomplishments. Don't skip over your development needs.
This is your chance to ask for what you need. And get creative if you can't think of what it is that
you need.
I don't know. book a call with me. Let's talk and I can give you some ideas. Some companies
cover the cost of coaching.
Some companies will cover the cost of courses or conferences or something. Maybe what you
need this year is access to a networking group so that you can build your visibility.
That takes time. Maybe it's not as much money and you just need to say this is what I need.
So don't skip over your development needs. This is your opportunity to ask for exactly what you
need. And don't rely solely on your memory to remember everything you want to cover.
Make sure you have a little document with just your notes so that you can get every single point
in there that's important to you.
Now today might have felt like a lot. Definitely, like I said, the year end review is one of the
most overlooked opportunities to have a really strong conversation with your leader.
Thank you. get set up for success, not just taking the time to be recognized and celebrate last
year, but start planning and getting set up for success in the next year.
So earlier, I asked you to write down what would it feel like if I took control of this
conversation?
I want you to sit down and think about that. Some at some point today, or if you're listening to
this late at night, night birds, at some point in the next maybe 24 to 48 hours, I want you to sit
quietly for about 15, 20 minutes and just write down how that could go differently.
And I'd love for you to send me an email with your thoughts so that I can continue to support
you and share you on from here.
Now, I challenge you to go into this review with purpose. I want you to be one of the 15 who
prepares and sets that stage for a successful year ahead.
By the way, I'm all standing out from your competition. This is a great way to stand out. So I
challenge you
go into this review with purpose and get what you need. If you're ready for a bit more support in
your career growth, I have started a new school community.
It is the next at midlife career club and it's all about supporting midlife women with career
growth. So whether you're aiming for a promotion, exploring a new role or considering a career
pivot, I love to invite you to join us.
I'll be charging for this group soon because there's going to be a lot of value and great items like
workshops and conversations, Q&A sessions and resources coming soon.
But right now founding members can join and they are free for life. So I will include the link in
the show notes.
School is a very cool platform similar to a Facebook group but a lot more cool. And I also would
love for you to make
sure that you share our show, follow us, give us a five star rating on Apple Podcast. That just
helps us reach even more Gen X women who are ready to take charge of their careers.
And without your ratings, we can't rank high enough to even compete or be or be seen. So we
really appreciate anyone who is willing to share follow and give us a five star rating.
I hope you got some fabulous strategies today. And you're feeling very confident and ready to
prepare for your review.
Whenever that review is happening, I look forward to hearing from you soon. And we'll see you
on the next episode.
Take care, sisters.
