The Impact Log
You lead people and you are going through the motions. The caring did not go anywhere. You have just lost sight of whether any of it is landing, and you have started to wonder whether the role is the problem.
I am not going to tell you to leave, and I am not going to hand you a productivity system. What you have lost sight of is the impact.
Over the next week, take a minute at the end of each day and answer one question. Not how much you got done. Who did your work actually help today?
The practice
- At the end of each day, one line. Who did your work help today? Who was it, and how do you know?
- Keep it to one line. A name and a reason. If the honest answer is nobody, write that.
- Do it for seven days, including the days you would rather skip.
Who did my work help today, and how do I know?
Reading the week back
At the end of the week, read the list. You are looking at the connection between "I care" and "I made an impact," and now you can see where it is intact and where it has been cut.
Whatever cut it, that is the thing to work on. Sometimes it is a process. Sometimes it is a person. Sometimes it is the role. You will know which when you read it back.
What cut it?
From the essay Lonelier Than the People You Lead.
One of these every two weeks
Groundwork is a letter. One situation, one tool, one question I actually want you to answer. Every other Sunday.
Get the letter