Have you heard the saying ‘get off the dancefloor and get on the balcony’?
It’s used as a leadership tool to help people visualise taking a step back (or above) the action in order to see and understand what’s really going on.
To stop what you’re doing and just observe.
The concept was apparently coined in 2002 by Harvard Kennedy School professors Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky as part of an adaptive leadership framework.
We spend most of our time on the dancefloor
Or… on the treadmill, the hamster wheel. Whatever you’d like to call it.
When we all get together, we spend a lot of time talking about how busy life is – and how it seems to keep getting busier. I even created a framework to ‘leaving space in the cup’. Space to grow and learn. Space to be.
I really enjoy being on life’s dancefloor. In the thick of it, trying and doing new things. Before I was a governance nerd, I was a dance nerd. It’s true. I was on the actual dancefloor. For years I took dance classes, then I taught dance classes.
My RSVP tool
There are a bazillion end-of-year reflection and goal setting tools around.
I don’t think my RSVP tool is unique. All I did was wrap it around the things that I wrap my own life around (reflection, strengths, values, purpose) and then give it a snappy name.
- R = review. Look back over the past year
- S = superpowers. What are you awesome at and should do more of?
- V = values. What are the emotions/feelings you want more of next year?
- P = purpose. Start with the end in mind – what’s your purpose for next year?
In 2022, I published a blog post that described how this tool works, focusing more on the SVP part of the tool. I talked about why it’s good to look at how you want to feel to set goals for the future.
Reflection is the first step in my RSVP tool – the R part.
Why it’s important to reflect
The simple answer: Looking back over the past year helps us identify what we do and don’t want for the next year.
Coralie Nash has filled out my RSVP worksheet two years in a row – during the final session of Take on Board Accelerator. She said she didn’t realise “how much I had actually achieved since the previous year”.
You can hear Coralie talk about her 2023 (episode 231) and 2024 (episode 282) RSVPs on the Take on Board podcast’s end-of-year RSVP episodes. In these episodes you’ll also hear about the RSVPs by other Accelerator alumni.
The RSVP worksheet asks to reflect on the past year to identify three key observations:
- What are three things you are proud of from the past year?
- What were three of the most significant challenges you faced?
- If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing from the past year, what would it be?
- What didn’t serve you well? Which beliefs, people, circumstances, assumptions, blocks, attitudes or fears would it help to leave behind as you head into the new year?
- What surprised you most about this year? Which word or phrase sums up how you feel about the year that has passed?
“I ended up spending the most time on reflection,” a coaching client said of her third RSVP. “I filled inside and outside of the box on the worksheet and the back of the page. I was surprised to see how much I’d actually achieved – and the variety of experiences. It was quite joyful.”
I also scribble and fill up the page. The things I noticed when I reflected on the past year:
- I used my SPACE framework a lot
- I was personally proactive around health, relationships, family and holiday/break time
- I held steady professionally
Listen to episode 283 to hear more about my RSVP for 2024.
Give RSVP a go
You can find the tool in my website’s free tools section (scroll to the end). If you can, print it out. Put aside a few hours. Enjoy your RSVP time.
My RSVP tool today plays a big role in both my facilitation/coaching and Take on Board worlds.
I’ve been talking about my own RSVPs on the podcast since 2018. In addition to using RSVP as Accelerator’s final session for the year, I run RSVP sessions for organisations such as the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) and Leadership Great South Coast (LGSC).
Those who have RSVPed a two or more times say that:
- You’ll scribble down more than you expect
- You’ll edit and refine a number of times
- If you’re lucky enough to RSVP with others, you’ll be inspired to ‘steal with pride’
- It’s easier the second (or third, fourth, etc) time
- Some goals carry over to the next RSVP
One goal that carried over to the RSVP was ‘strength and fitness’. I tried a few things and couldn’t quite crack it. A Pilates studio opened up the road this year. I now go two or three times a week. I’ve finally nailed the ‘health and fitness goal’!
Tell me about it…
If you do give my RSVP tool a go, I’d love to hear all about it.
