Reflection and Renewal: Finding the Best Path Forward in 2007

by Danny Parrish

The beginning of a new year is a time for both reflection and renewal. Although time passes, ineffective patterns do not need to repeat. That’s why I recommend setting aside a little time now to reflect on the past year and ask yourself some important questions.

What were your company successes and company disappointments?  And, perhaps more importantly, what have been your personal highs and lows?

Often, our personal attitudes and emotions provide the blanket under which our company activity happens.  As leaders, we have an obligation to our fellow team members to bring our best to work each day – both in attitude and performance.  It is virtually impossible to keep personal events from intruding on our professional lives. That’s why this period of reflection and renewal should be one that looks critically at both dimensions.

Assessing the “brutal facts” as Jim Collins says in his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, is critically important to being who we want to be and leading teams, departments and companies to what they want to be. We cannot improve until we know what and where to improve. Even Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer the world has ever seen, talks about the constant need for improvement and that, no matter how good you are, you can always be better. 

Through reflective thoughts and honest assessments about what to improve, you will undergo a renewal process. And through that process, you can commit to making the changes necessary to get what you want in 2007 – both personally and professionally. 

As a parting thought for an amazing and invigorating new year, one guideline to follow is this quote from leading motivational speaker, Jim Cathcart: “How would the person I would like to be do the things I am about to do?”

Danny B. Parrish is President of Parrish Consulting Group, which provides a wide range of consulting and temporary services to construction companies in the areas of accounting, finance, strategic planning, marketing, human resource and information management. A former national president of CFMA, Danny is a frequent speaker at national and regional industry events. His experiences in the A/E/C & Design-Build environment have given him opportunities to serve as an advisory board member for organizations seeking outside expertise and assistance and as a consultant to insurance agencies, software enterprises and accounting firms seeking insight into the construction financial management environment. For more information, call 972-567-2381 or e-mail dbparrish@msn.com.