Your Year Is About to Be Reduced to a Few Sentences
Decide what matters enough to survive the compression
THE MOMENT
So you're getting close to year-end, and at some point someone is going to ask you to summarize the year.
Maybe it's a formal self-review. Maybe your manager asks for your accomplishments. Maybe it's a few bullets before the year-end conversation. At more senior levels, it may be less formal than that.
But the problem is the same.
You've got twelve months of work, decisions, problems, client situations and things you stepped in to fix, and somehow you have to decide what matters enough to include.
THE MECHANICS
The big banks report third-quarter results this week. Listen to how their leadership teams describe the quarter.
Thousands of things happened inside those firms over three months. Almost none of them make the earnings call. Management has to decide what matters enough to survive the compression. What did the business produce? What drove it? What changed? What does it tell people about where the firm is going?
Your year is going to go through the same kind of compression.
Last week I asked you to write your case in two sentences: the problem you own and what it produced for the firm, then what you're ready to own next and why the firm benefits from you owning it.
Now you need the evidence underneath it.
I worked with a senior leader who had been raising the same operational issue with management for a long time. He understood the problem, and they understood the problem, but nothing moved.
What changed was what he chose to lead with. Instead of continuing to explain the issue, he showed what it was costing the business. Within a couple of weeks, he was having a different conversation with the same people about the same problem.
The issue hadn't changed. What leadership could use to evaluate it had.
That's the judgment you need at year-end.
THE MOVE
Take the two sentences you wrote last week and put them at the top of a blank page.
Underneath them, choose the three pieces of evidence from this year that most clearly support the case. For each one, write the problem or opportunity, the decision you made or action you led, and what it produced or prevented for the firm.
Then look at everything else you're thinking about including and ask: Does this help someone understand the level I'm operating at, or am I including it because I worked hard on it?
Keep the evidence that strengthens the case. Shorten or cut the rest.
By the time your year reaches the people making decisions about you, much of the detail will be gone. Your job now is to make sure the right things survive.
Key Takeaways
At year-end, twelve months of work eventually gets compressed into a much smaller description of your contribution.
Senior leaders should choose evidence based on what it demonstrates about business impact, judgment and readiness for greater responsibility.
Start with the case you want leadership to understand, then select the accomplishments that actually support it.
Strong evidence connects a problem or opportunity to the decision you made and what that decision produced or prevented for the firm.
Do not give every accomplishment equal weight simply because it required significant effort.
FAQ
Do managing directors write self-reviews?
It depends on the firm and its performance-management process. Some managing directors complete formal self-assessments, while others provide year-end accomplishments, prepare material for their manager or participate primarily through review conversations. The important part is being able to summarize the year clearly when leadership evaluates your contribution.
What should a senior leader include in a year-end review?
Focus on the few accomplishments that best demonstrate business impact, judgment and readiness for greater responsibility. For each one, explain the problem or opportunity, what you decided or led, and what it produced or prevented for the firm.
How should an executive summarize a year of accomplishments?
Start with the conclusion you want leadership to understand, then work backward to the strongest evidence. Avoid treating the review as a chronological record of everything you worked on.
How do I show impact if I don't directly generate revenue?
Use the measures the business already cares about. That may include cost, risk, cycle time, client outcomes, execution quality, productivity, capacity, regulatory outcomes or problems prevented.
Should executives use "I" or "we" in a year-end review?
Use both accurately. Credit the team for collective results while making your own decisions, judgment and leadership clear. The reader should understand what changed because of your contribution.
How does a year-end review support a promotion case?
It gives managers and other reviewers evidence they can use when discussing your contribution and readiness for more responsibility. The strongest material connects what you produced this year with the level of mandate you are capable of owning next.
About Brian Rella
Brian Rella is the founder of EverNext and a leadership advisor to VPs through C-Suite in financial services. After 25 years at Wells Fargo, BGC, Bloomberg, HSBC, JP Morgan, and UBS, he helps senior leaders own the mandates their firms most need and be recognized and rewarded at the next level.