Today, I want to ask you a very different leadership question: “Is my soul in a better place today than it was a year ago?”

For 12 months you’ve been doing the hard work of leadership. You’ve led through the rapidly-changing landscape of the post-pandemic world that has likely shaken up your team or organization. You’ve been:

• Making tough decisions
• Re-arranging teams
• Disappointing people for a greater purpose
• Saying “no”
• Challenging your team to remain engaged in this uncertain economy

All of these necessary tasks can take a toll on the leader’s soul.

The writer of the biblical book of Proverbs states emphatically, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). For leaders, this means taking time to examine the condition of your inner being.

Take time to wrestle through these questions. After the last 12 months:

• Is my heart towards people more, or less, compassionate than a year ago?
• Am I growing more, or less, irritable than I was a year ago?
• Does laughter come to me more or less easily than it did a year ago?
• Is my appreciation of natural beauty more, or less, heightened than it was a year ago?
• Would people describe me as more, or less, “winsome” than I was a year ago?
• Is my connection with God more, or less, fulfilling today than it was a year ago?

This list is far from exhaustive, but I would urge you to reflect on these kinds of questions before you even think about tackling a new hill this year.

Because while resolutions and goals really are important, a healthy soul trumps everything.

As the proverb says, “everything flows from it.”