As a former football and basketball coach, one of the tasks I was often left with at the end of each season was to conduct a "self-scout" on our programs. To do this, we would break down every single game that we had that season and "scout" ourselves as if we were getting ready to play against our own team. This "self-scout" allowed us to see ourselves as our opponents saw us. It allowed us to identify our own tendencies, our own weaknesses, our own strengths. It was always very powerful to complete this scouting process and it always led to positive changes being made for the next season.
Now that I'm a school administrator, I use the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day each year to "self-scout" the school district and our many programs, our admin team, and myself. It is a time to reflect on what is going well, what needs to improve, what needs to change, what needs to be discontinued, and what needs to begin. For a "self-scout" to be meaningful, you have to be willing to be your own harshest critic. You have to be able to make tough decisions. You have to be committed to something bigger than just yourself.
I hope that each of you, in your own way, is able to take some reflection time during the upcoming holiday season. We all have many things to be thankful for and excited about but each one of us also has things we need to improve upon. This is what makes the world an exciting place. We're always a "work in progress."
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