As we approach the final day of 2012, it is important to consider how valuable our relationships with others reinforced our experiences throughout this past year.

I began the year in Silicon Valley on the west coast and completed the year on the Chesapeake Bay on the east coast. The journey to this new home is rich with conversations, readings, musings and a lot of time behind the steering wheel.

As I review this year’s journey, I am reminded of the value of colleagues and organizations dedicated to enriching the quality and value of life. Academic institutions and their faculty prepare students for lifelong appreciating of learning and critical thinking. Religious institutions and their clergy focus on our spiritual health and development. Not-for-profits and their executive teams continually seek to find the greatest needs and address them via fiscal and human capital. Our cousins in the corporate community continue to train us with their best leadership and management practices as well as offer a steady stream of volunteers and experts.

I am also grateful for great authors and their books. In particular, I reread Jim Collins’monograph, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, as well as The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins. These are two foundational books for those seeking new horizons in 2013.

Winston Churchill’s maxim still holds true: “The longer you look back, the farther you can look forward.”

May this coming year be especially fruitful for you, your organization and those entrusted to your leadership. I look forward to hearing from you in the upcoming year.