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The Semi-Annual Review that Changed My Life

Updated: May 5, 2022

Some companies do annual reviews and some even do semi-annual reviews. Many people fear these reviews. Some even think they are a joke; and others do not do them at all. I personally think that feedback is important; and continual. And feedback has always been

meant to be open and two-way communication.


Manager vs Leader

In my career, I’ve had managers and I’ve had leaders. A manager pays attention to that which they can control (and it’s somewhat amusing that they think they control more than they do); and may even get upset when others don’t get the results desired. A manager is a person who thinks their “position” gives them the power to tell people what to do; and who does not recognize the value of relationships.


The leader, however, looks at everything from people to process and is constantly making adjustments to get from point A to point B. The leader recognizes that by valuing the people on the team, believing they will give their best, giving them respect, the goals will be achieved, and the leader will be respected in return. His goal is to provide the tools for team members so they can do the job desired. Sure, the leader wants results. The big difference is the leader knows that supporting and encouraging the team members rather than hounding them for results is what is most effective.


Leadership Harbor Journey - starting in 2017

Leadership Harbor began in 2017, and accelerated just 3 months later when my wife was asked to take a job with less responsibility. I can hardly count the number of times she’s told the story about her reply to the requested change,


“I’ve grown too much to take a step back. The only thing we need to decide now is when is my last day.”


This interaction has inspired me to always be preparing for a better opportunity for myself. On more than one occasion, I had the opportunity to leave corporate life and take a severance package - first time, I was not financially or mentally ready; and the second time, I was mentally ready, but not financially ready. Can you imagine my disappointment and frustration with myself?


Kris and I made a significant investment in ourselves and our journey when we joined Maxwell Leadership in 2015, and we have been growing exponentially ever since. From 2016 to 2021, I was offering mastermind discussions, and offered communication training in order to help my fellow associates develop better leadership and communication skills. I even was able to add this to my job performance description - until my last semi-annual review.


My Last 6 Month Review (July 2021)

In July of 2021, I had my semi-annual review. It’s almost comical how my experience paralleled my wife’s experience.


During my last review, my boss (who was retiring at the end of the month) said “this leadership training doesn’t apply any more, we are going to remove it. <DELETE>.” No discussion! My thoughts - “I’ve grown too much to take a step back. The only thing to decide is when is my last day!” Sound familiar?


Leadership Harbor 2022 +

It has now been more than 6 months since leaving the corporate salaried role in my life; and it still seems like yesterday. Today, I am grateful for that manager because that was part of the process I needed to aggressively move toward fulfilling my dreams, and my potential.


Leadership Harbor is growing/changing/learning. We have made mistakes. John Maxwell has been doing/growing/teaching leadership for nearly 50 years - and it was incredible to hear him admit, they still make mistakes. I take some comfort from this notion. It doesn’t remove the pain that people feel in the process of making mistakes, changes, or simply parting ways. Our team has learned from its challenges. Some are happy with the changes. Some have realized there are other opportunities to pursue. Our 3 person leadership team has added 6 team members in the last year. We have also parted ways with three of them and wish them all the best! In the process we have strived to improve our onboarding process to grow in more intentional ways.


The struggles and long hours to build a business have been worth it! The joy of serving in the areas of discovering, developing and unleashing untapped potential in people (individuals, teams, youth, parents and families) is so rewarding. And then there’s the non-profit foundation that provides anti-bullying and suicide prevention for youth and veterans through our CALM protocol, veterans coaching and youth leadership.


Our mission is to empower people to realize their potential. If you know of someone who dreams of more, or you are a team leader that wants to empower your team to greater success and significance, let’s make that happen!



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