This is The OffBeat, where music meets leadership. Iâm Allison Staddâjazz drummer, marketing leader, and very tired/highly caffeinated mom of twoâand each week I deliver a fresh take on work, creativity, and connection, like how to hire like Duke Ellington. Itâs like HBR, but with better taste in music.
Every other edition of The OffBeat is a think piece structured like a jam session in jazz (naming the tuneâa punchy idea; soloingâexploring different takes on a central theme; outroâa thought-provoking closer).
Opening Note | A track that captures the vibe of this edition of The OffBeat:
From Luciusâs new self-titled album (itâs so good), this track is moody, slow-burning, and quietly intense, like someone taking stock before deciding what to do next.
The full OffBeat playlist
Author and speaker Gretchen Rubin celebrates July 2nd as Halfway Day.
Itâs the midpoint of the year and, as she puts it, âa great time to reflect on our aims and to adjust our approach [since] [i]tâs important to celebrate our accomplishmentsâand also to notice what doesnât work.â
I like to think of Halfway Day as a concert intermission.
Itâs a chance to take a breath, stretch your legs, and tune your instrument halfway through the gig.
The first half is behind you, regardless of how it went; now you can set yourself and the rest of the band up for the second half with a quick check-in and tune-up.
Intermission isnât a good time to toss up all your sheet music and scribble down a new set list. Iâm all about improvisation, but creative freedom needs a framework. Otherwise itâs just chaos.
Intermission also isnât when you do a mid-gig gear audit (if I got that other amp, it might punch better in the bridge of Song 7) or edit your bio on the band website (what if someone looks it up mid-show?!)
In work terms, this isnât about recasting H2 from scratch. Itâs also not about running out to buy a productivity planner halfway through the year.
This is about purposeful, contemplative recalibration. Itâs about tuning into whatâs serving you, and whatâs not, in making progress towards your aspirations as a leader.
So letâs get into it.
Here are four ways to use your mid-year intermission as a leadership check-in:
1. Revisit your rhythms
Take a look at the rhythms of your year, in other words your current cadence of meetings, routines, and time-bound rituals.
Have you gotten out of the habit of blocking an hour for deep thinking time to kick off your day and need to reinstate it?
Did any recurring 1-1s creep onto your calendar that you donât think you need anymore? Can any recurring 1-1s be shortened from 60 minutes to 30 minutes?
Did you start the year off with a meeting-free block on Friday afternoons thatâs gotten consistently booked over?
Do any monthly meetings feel too frequent, or not frequent enough?
Is there a monthly work recap that can be quarterly instead?
đŹ ACTION: Scan through your calendar from the last few months and reflect on what feels useful and well-functioning, or chaotic and counterproductive. Make adjustments accordingly.
Related reading:
2. Take back the mic
Take stock of where youâre reacting on autopilot, or saying yes out of habit. Now reclaim your agency!
An executive coach told me once, âIf itâs not a full-body yes, itâs a no for now.â
Relatedly, actor Jason Bateman on the Smartless podcast always talks about his rule of thumb for RSVPing to events: if he wouldnât be excited to go tomorrow, then he declines. (And imagine the events he gets invited to.)
Have you accepted any invitations out of guilt, that you could delegate or skip instead?
Did you load up on too many virtual coffee chats or networking meetings that sap your energy? Space them out.
Have you been over-volunteering for things you feel guilty saying no to (Class Parent, team birthday organizer)? Manage your energy, not your time.
Are the people youâre collaborating with and allowing into your airspace pushing you forward or pulling you off track?
đŹ ACTION: Look at your calendar and projects for the remaining months of the year and consider those questions, then make changes.
Related reading:
3. Choose a melody for Act 2
Pick a throughlineâa theme or behavior or phraseâto guide your decisions in the second half.
Iâm all about choosing an intention or a word, in January, to serve as your north star throughout the year; but Iâm also all about fine-tuning and making adjustments when theyâre called for. Thereâs nothing wrong with refining, or even replacing, your intention if something different will serve you better for the months ahead. Or articulating one now even if you didnât at the top of the year (or never have before!).
đŹ ACTION: Consider what you want to feel like when you reflect back at the end of this year. Examine what the gap is between where youâre at now and that desired end point. Identify a word, a phrase, a behavior, or a vibe that captures the energy needed to close that gap.
For example: maybe things feel really chaotic and exhausting right now, and you want to get to a place of mental ease and peace by the end of the year. A word like "steady" or "uncluttered" might help you make micro-decisions that move you in that direction.
If you're feeling disconnected or flat, but craving more creativity and joy, maybe your throughline is "spark" or "play."
If you're overwhelmed with obligations and want to feel more rooted in your own agency, your word might be "discernment" or "sovereignty."
Related reading:
4. Do a team soundcheck
I do a quarterly âvibe checkâ cascade with my team to tune into whatâs working, whatâs not, whatâs sticking in peopleâs craws, whatâs making them feel lit-up about work each week.
I ask each of my direct reports to hold a âvibe checkâ session, usually 30-45 minutes of open dialogue, with their teams, then I run one with my directs in which they can share their own perspectives and bubble up any themes from their respective groups.
Itâs an opportunity to surface themes and thoughts before they calcify into frustration or disengagement.
The midway point of the year is the perfect opportunity to re-center and check the teamâs pulse.
đŹ ACTION: Schedule time to take your teamâs attitudinal temperature. Crystallize a list of questions, and share them ahead of time, as thought starters to guide the conversation. Afterwards, circulate a) themes you heard, and b) any actions youâre taking accordingly.
Consider questions like:
Are we still all clear on the mission? Has it shifted?
Whatâs giving us energy vs. draining it?
What progress are we proud of, especially the unplanned wins?
Where have we fallen short, and what can we learn from that?
What have we done so far this year to feel like a team, not just function like one?
What opportunities are we seeing now that werenât visible in January?
Related reading:
Intermission is when the volume can get loud.
Audience members bustling around, exchanging impressions of the performance thus far, speculating about the second act, checking their texts and emails. Musicians chatting backstage, tuning their instruments, swapping out mutes or mouthpieces, talking through set changes.
But sometimes the best insights arenât always loud. You have to deliberately make space to hear them.
Use your mid-year intermission as not just a break, but a reset point. It can be a moment to process what happened over the last few months, check your tuning, and choose how you want to show up for the second half.
Have a great week,
Allison
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Iâm completely unsurprised and thoroughly delighted that we both wrote about doing a midyear check-in in our own, unique ways âš So appreciate your insights, as always! Iâve been noodling on my âmelody for act 2â.