The Leader You Were. The Leader You Are.
Not "I think I grew as a leader" but "here's the moment that proves it."
October 6, 2026
Originally published in One More Rep, a weekly newsletter for people managers who want to get better through practice. Subscribe here — it's free.
Week 40. Rep 40. Our Q4 series starts today. This isn't a new theme; it's a return to everything we built this year.
Read
The Moment
The first rep of this year was to write a leadership intention statement. Who you wanted to be as a leader, especially when things got hard.
Do you remember what you wrote?
More importantly: did you become that leader?
The Pattern
The end of a year pulls attention toward goals: what you hit, what you missed, what you're setting for next year.
Leadership growth may not show up in metrics, but it always shows up in moments. The conversation you handled differently than you would have a year ago. The feedback you gave that you would have avoided in January. The standard you held when the easier thing would have been to let it go.
Those moments are the data, and they're easy to miss if you don't go looking for them.
Why This Matters
Q1 started with identity: who will I be when things get uncomfortable? Q4 ends there too. Not as a question, but as an answer.
This month you'll look back at the year with the same specificity you brought to every rep. Not "I think I grew" but "here's the moment that proves it." Not "I still struggle with feedback" but "here's exactly where I held back and why."
That's the rep this month. Honest and specific.
Rep
This Week's Practice
This week you're building a leadership inventory for the year. It's not a performance review or a highlight reel. It's an honest look at what changed in how you lead and what didn't.
Your Rep
Answer these questions in writing:
What's one moment from this year where you led differently than you would have before January? What made it possible?
What's one pattern that's still showing up, the thing you've been working on that hasn't fully shifted yet?
What's the capability you built this year that you're most confident taking into 2027?
What to Notice
Success looks like:
Your answers point to specific moments and behaviors, not general impressions.
The pattern you name in the second question is honest enough to be uncomfortable.
Resistance looks like:
Writing what you intended instead of what actually happened.
Skipping the second question because it's easier to focus on growth.
It's working when:
You read your answers back and recognize yourself in them.
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1: Conflating effort with change. Working hard on something isn't the same as changing it. The question is what's different in your behavior, not how much attention you gave it.
Mistake #2: Only looking at what went well. The pattern that's still showing up after a full year of deliberate practice is the most important thing on the page. Name it, because that's what Q4 is for.
Reflect
Who did you intend to be as a leader at the start of this year, and how close did you get?
What does that answer tell you about what still needs work?
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Cristina Stensvaag is co-founder of LeaderReps and creator of One More Rep, a weekly practice-based leadership newsletter for people managers.