As December draws to a close, the natural thing to do is reflect on the year that has passed.

We do this in many ways-holiday cards often include the highlights of the previous twelve months, and New Year's resolutions typically get set after looking back and deciding what we'd like to improve.

Often, though, the act of reflection that is so instinctual in our personal lives doesn't carry over into our businesses. The rush to close out Q4 strong keeps us more focused on short-term performance metrics than on the year as a whole.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the potential impact of writing a weekly Friday note. If weekly notes are regular season games, then the year-in-review note is the championship. All of the things that make a weekly note valuable-the personal connection with your team, the ability to reinforce your vision, the tone it sets for company communication-get amplified exponentially in the year-in-review.

Writing a year-in-review, not just for your team, but also for your investors and stakeholders, is an exercise that will help set you up for success in the year to come.