December 27, 2025

More Than What Shipped: A Review Season Reflection

It’s review season again, which means it’s tempting to count deliverables, milestones, and metrics and call it reflection. But before I look at what I shipped, I try to pause and ask something harder and more honest: how did I lead? In a values-based company, success is not just about what moved forward, it is about who was supported, what clarity was created, and whether my work made it easier for others to do their best work. This checklist is my way of grounding that reflection in both product leadership and servant leadership.

Servant leadership reminds me that my role is not to be the smartest person in the room or the final decision-maker on everything. My role is to create the conditions where others can think clearly, act confidently, and grow. Product leadership and service are deeply connected. When I do one well, the other becomes easier.

Strategy and Direction

Did I provide clarity on where we were going and why?
Did I help the team understand outcomes, not just initiatives?
Did I reduce confusion or add to it?
Did I make prioritization decisions that protected focus and energy?
Did my direction make it easier for others to act with confidence?

Product Thinking

Did I spend my energy on the “why” and the “what” so others could own the “how”?
Did I frame problems in customer and business language rather than system or platform language?
Did I encourage discovery before delivery?
Did I protect space for learning and iteration?
Did I simplify complexity for the team or make it heavier?

Impact Over Output

Can I point to outcomes, not just shipped work?
Did anything meaningfully change because of decisions I influenced?
Did the product become clearer, simpler, or more effective for the people using it?
Did the team understand how their work connected to real-world impact?

Leadership and Culture

Did I model curiosity, humility, and accountability?
Did I choose clarity and kindness in difficult moments?
Did I create space for disagreement and healthy challenge?
Did people feel safe bringing uncertainty, ideas, and concerns to me?
Did my presence lower stress or increase it?

Enabling the Team

Did I remove obstacles or become one?
Did I trust others with real responsibility and ownership?
Did I help people grow in confidence and judgment?
Did fewer decisions need to funnel through me by the end of the year?
Did I spend more time enabling than controlling?

Values and Tradeoffs

Values matter most when tradeoffs are hard.

Did I act in alignment with what I say matters?
Did I protect long-term health over short-term wins?
Did I honor people as much as progress?
Did I choose integrity even when it was inconvenient?

Looking Inward

Did I grow as a listener and a learner?
Did I become more comfortable with uncertainty and complexity?
Did I get better at saying no with respect and clarity?
Did I ask for help when I needed it?
Did I remember that leadership is practiced, not achieved?

Did I get an A in all of this? No. Not even close.

Some days I lead with clarity and steadiness. Other days I move too fast, hold too tightly, or miss opportunities to support someone better. I get mad. I get upset. I get stressed. Sometimes I take that stress out on the person I’m engaging with. Then I feel guilty. I feel fear. I worry that the decisions we’re making are setting us back or that we’re falling behind. And I’m learning that all of that is part of caring deeply about the work and the people. It doesn’t make me a bad leader. It makes me human.

This checklist doesn’t exist to prove that I did everything right. It exists to remind me that leadership is something I am still learning, still practicing, and still growing into. What matters is not that these feelings show up, but what I do when they do. Do I pause, reflect, repair, and try again with more care?

Awareness is the real gift. It helps me see where I showed up well and where I need to do better. It gives me direction, not a grade. And that is what tells me what to work on next.