I help leaders write year-end messages for their teams and customers. I love this task—it’s long been one of my most frequently requested services, yet the process feels fresh every time.
When leaders hit pause and reflect on their lived experiences with me, it unearths deep nuggets of wisdom. One of my favorites came from an aeronautical data analytics team executive.
“So much investment and collective effort go into creating effective, data-driven solutions to a problem,” he said, “but our impact is routinely diminished by the habit of overlooking the ‘last mile.’”
I think he put a number to it, too, something like 30% less effectiveness, maybe even 40%. And these stats bum him out.
At the end of a project or a year, there’s an urge to coast, to just “get it over with.” To feel bad about falling short of our hopes and expectations, and therefore point fingers or numb out. Or skip ahead to dreaming about what’s next.
It’s all very understandable. Disappointment and exhaustion are inevitable in any journey and they take a toll.
But he’s seen people come together at the so-called bitter end. They paid attention to the work at hand and to each other. They posted remarkable results. He was inspired. And his December message that year was this: Let’s be a team that puts the quality of the “last mile” first—I’ll lead the way.
What if we put the last mile first?
It’s poignant for me to ponder this question as I’ve just returned from visiting my mother, who is suddenly terminally ill.
Despite the deadly tumor, as of today, she has about 70% physical and 100% mental functionality to live life “normally.” So she still wakes up with choices over how to walk her last mile—and what thoughts to hold as she travels.
I’ll share more about our conversations on this topic in the coming weeks. And, as promised, I’ll tell about the impossibly tiny joys that I found healing, too.
For now, I’ll say that my mother has taught me about exiting with grace, and that it’s truly never too late to start with the end in mind.
Today is the first of December.
Your current reality may be a mismatch from what you imagined in January, and that could be good news or bad.
Either way, I invite you to consider (with gentleness!) “What could 2022 be if I put the last mile first?”
What actions do I want to take?
What thoughts do I want to hold?
What do I want to communicate and to whom?
There’s still time for us to make beautiful shifts together. Stats are in our favor if we want to make a difference, a meaningful impact, start a ripple effect.
We can exit December with grace as a collective.
Will you join me? (Say yes by hitting reply!)
