At Yomento, our product development has always been centered around the practical application of leadership. Inevitably, this has led to a focus on behaviors and helping leaders build great habits and routines in the flow of their work.

In our most recent research and thinking, we came across James Clear’s ideas around “systems over goals”. He writes that “...my results had very little to do with the goals I set and nearly everything to do with the systems I followed".

What an interesting way of looking at things! Now, what could a systems approach to leadership development look like?

Speaking to our partners (special shoutout to Lead4X for inspiring this conversation!), customers and leaders who use Yomento, we identified two key components in a system: reflecting on the week that was and planning for the week ahead.‍

In our conversations, we came to view this combination as a weekly leadership ritual. It involves a habit. There is a process. However, there is something deeper to it. We loved the concept of a ritual, which can be defined as “a routine that has been infused with a sprinkle of ceremony or sacredness and some aspect of mindfulness".

Part one of this weekly ritual - REFLECTION - will be driven by a few guiding questions to help the leader think about their weekly progress and learnings and setting the intention for their leadership development going forward.

In part two of this ritual - PLANNING - the leader will be asked to translate their intention into specific behaviors and actions that they will focus on during the upcoming week. It could be about giving more feedback, to listen more actively, or to focus on asking open-ended questions instead of giving answers right away. Intentions and actions will vary over time; the important thing is to commit to the ongoing process.

To make it even more hands-on and practical, leaders will be asked to look at their calendar and to-dos for the upcoming week and schedule when they plan to demonstrate these behaviors. Why? Well, frequency and cadence matters.
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Some behaviors may not need a particular context, or a lot of planning (like saying hello in the morning, or giving feedback in the moment) and can therefore be planned and practiced frequently. Other behaviors may require more effort, and lend themselves to specific situations that might only occur once or twice in the upcoming week (like confirming the team's progress towards goals, which may be most suitable in the weekly team meeting).

A ritual is about reflection and intention, presence and mindfulness. It is also about specificity and precision, planning and execution.

What are your weekly leadership rituals?

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