Heidi Saucier

Worth Remembering

As the new year began, my leader shared some thought-provoking questions to reflect on. I’m going to share some of those questions over the next series of posts along with my responses. I hope that these are questions that you too can reflect on and help you move forward in your goals for 2026.

Here is the first question: What is worth remembering from 2025?

As I thought about this, I realized that through the challenges that the year faced, there were many key lessons and accomplishments that I want to remember as I work on this year’s goals. Here are a few examples:

  1. I learned how to handle candid conversations: While still a work in progress, having candor is critical to developing yourself and those you lead. If we avoid giving honest feedback to others, we become a barrier to their growth. I’ve mentioned the Johari window in the past, which references blind spots individuals may have that can only be discovered when others reveal them. Over the last year, I have been both the giver and receiver of candid feedback. As the giver, I had to find balance between honest feedback that may come across as harsh while still having empathy and care for the person I was giving that feedback to. I’m not perfect at it but am committed to developing this skill. As the receiver, it was hard to have honest conversations that would result in changes and challenges that I would face individually and on a team level. At the same time, I appreciated the willingness of leaders to be up front with information to prepare me for change and to look at where I could improve as a leader. Want to learn more about leading with candor? I recommend Kim Scott’s Radical Candor. There’s also a quiz you can take that gives a simple assessment of your current approach and comfort levels with radical candor.
  2. I’ve improved in shifting priorities to support business needs: Each year, our team sets specific goals for courses that we want to develop to support our learner audience. Early on, we meet with stakeholders and key subject matter experts not only to review existing courses for updates but also to identify new learning opportunities. Once this is in place, I tend to be a person that strives to stay on the path laid out and avoid detours as much as possible. Last year, there were initiatives that our organization asked us to focus on that affected my team’s core audience. As a result, we had to look at all our existing projects and determine what could be shifted to meet the need. This meant that some projects had to be paused for later in 2025 or revisited in 2026. Having flexibility and support from my leader and team brought positive outcomes and training opportunities that better served our learners and helped align them with new processes and programs.

What are things that you want to remember from 2025? Why are they important for you? Share in the comments.

Heidi Saucier

Influential leaders

I would not be where I am today in my journey had it not been for influential leaders. Several individuals have contributed as mentors, partners, and encouragers. Through each relationship I have gained insights, new perspectives, and connections that have and continue to support the path I am on to achieve my goals.  

At the top of the list is Jennifer S. She started as a peer when I was a sales trainer, then became my leader. Knowing my potential, she pushed me to go beyond what I thought I was capable of. For myself and our team, she brought new insights on goals. One of these was encouraging us to identify a “word of the year” that connected to those goals. Some of my words included realign, cultivate, and strategic. These words reflected areas of growth and improvement I wanted to focus on for that particular year and really made a difference in how I identified key objectives. Jennifer also stretched me to be better, often candid and encouraging in her feedback. I recall one instance when she had to have a crucial conversation with me. She shared a personal example of dealing with something similar, and what she learned from the experience. She also assigned me projects that not only took me out of my comfort zone, but aided in skill development with instructional design, facilitation, and professional presence. She continues to be an encourager to me in the current path of my career journey.

Another leader that stands out is Patrece, one of my current mentors. We served on a board together and I was intrigued by some details she was sharing related to our budget. I reached out to her for insights on financial acumen, as it is one of my goals for career development. As we’ve built our mentoring relationship, the conversations have gone beyond financial topics and moved to identifying connections and learning from each other. We have found that we have some amazing commonalities that inspire each other in areas where we are looking for guidance. She also holds me accountable to my personal goals, which helps me stay committed to publishing my blog posts. Connecting with Patrece has reminded me that mentoring is a two-way relationship and both the mentor and the mentee can teach each other key topics and skills that benefit each other in the end.

These are two examples of amazing leaders that have helped in my personal and professional development over the years. I’m grateful to them and others. Who are some of your influential leaders? How have they made a difference in your life? I’d love to hear about it!