December. There is so much going on around us and within us. Recuperating from that extra belt notch from Thanksgiving to full swing into the holidays. And, the holidays. Planning. Shopping for gifts. Shopping for food. Festivities. School concerts and partaking in special family traditions. Traveling. Wrapping gifts. Nonstop busy. And then there’s work. Much effort is taken to wrap up year-end tasks and planning for the next year.

Where in the midst of all of this busyness is self-care? Taking time to reflect and look at your calendar from this year to see where your priorities have landed. In measuring how effective we are, is it really all about the tasks accomplished? Maybe it’s more about the relationships that have been built within teams, with customers, and across your organization. Perhaps it’s about mentoring. What is it for you? Take some time, like scheduled time on your calendar, to plan how you can increase your effectiveness with your career and your family. Here are some areas to consider…

Attitude

Having an attitude of gratitude is a game changer. We all experience the road of challenge, hardship, pain, and even suffering. Placing our focus on what we appreciate makes that road a little less bumpy. For 2020, consider keeping a journal where each day you write down five things of which you appreciate. Categorize them. What do you appreciate about your job? Family? Nature? Music? The list is endless when you begin to expand your thinking of all that can be appreciated. It doesn’t matter what time during the day you do it. Make it work for you; just do it daily. Five minutes to start. And, as you continue this wonderful habit, that five minutes grows to 10, 15, and even 30 minutes. Try it!

Equipping Others

How much time can you invest in equipping others? Why is it important to equip others? There are many reasons and benefits. Specifically think about the people on your team. When we equip others, we create win-win situations for our team and our company. We hone in on developing our leadership skills.

Mentoring

Is there someone new to the industry or new to your team that you could mentor? Do you have a heart to help this person? The time and commitment? This is all about relationship building and pouring you into this other person. Think for a moment when you received the benefits of being mentored. Any good mentor relationship meets you where you are and then takes you to your potential. For whom can you see great potential?

Teamwork

Great achievements are accomplished through teams. How can you strengthen your team this next year? Important to the success of your team is creating value for this team. How can you harness each team player to be better? What characteristics can you instill and model? How can you modify your team environment that brings fulfillment to each team member? When a person is fulfilled, success happens, and the bottom line is positively impacted.

Relationships

Relationships is a word full of rich meaning, whether in your career or personally. Serving. Leading. Listening. Trusting. Influencing. Understanding. Connecting with your people is critical. And, how you connect matters. How can you refine your skills at deepening the relationships with your people? The key is them, understanding them so that they feel valued and understood. How do you go about doing that?

Time for Self

What do you do to take care of yourself? Good nutrition. Exercise. Rest. Those buckets are good ones with which to start. Growth. Everyday. How can you schedule growth into your everyday? Perhaps it’s creating a book list for 2020. Or, it’s goal setting. Small goals and big goals. Constantly be striving towards a goal. Also, how important is it to ‘be’ rather than ‘do’? After all, we human beings, not human doers. What shift needs to occur in your mind to be more present in the moment? Yes, planning and goal setting and achieving are all important. Just don’t forget to ‘be’. And, sometimes we have to no to the good to say yes to better and best things.

Surely, there are more categories than the ones listed. The challenge is to sit down with your calendar for a few hours, perhaps a day. Review where you’ve been this year and see what’s filled your time. How can 2020 be different, better? How can you achieve more through relationships, building your team, influencing and leading well?

Around the Industry:

Happening Now

Recently, the Federal Reserve Board, CFPB, FDIC, OCC, and the NCUA issued an “Interagency Statement on the Use of Alternative Data in Credit Underwriting” by banks, credit unions, and non-bank financial firms. The statement notes the benefits that using alternative data may provide to consumers, such as expanding access to credit and enabling consumers to obtain additional products and more favorable pricing and terms. The statement explains that a well-designed compliance management program provides for a thorough analysis of relevant consumer protection laws and regulations to ensure firms understand the opportunities, risks, and compliance requirements before using alternative data.

Alternative data includes information not typically found in consumers’ credit reports or customarily provided by consumers when applying for credit. Alternative data include cash flow data derived from consumers’ bank account records.

MCM Q&A

In case you’ve missed any of our publications, check out our December issue of our  best-read articles for 2019. Enjoy!