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OPINION
Performance reviews become powerful when they shift from box-checking to growth, clarity, and genuine investment in people’s long-term success. Next-level performance reviews
E arly in my career, I didn’t give performance reviews much thought. They felt generic, and I was confident that I was performing well. Nothing seemed to come from them – just templates, goals set by someone else, and leadership language copied and pasted. Sure, the merit increase mattered, but the review itself felt like a box to check.
Mercedez Thompson, MA, CP APMP, Shipley BDC
About five years ago, that changed. I wanted more from my performance review because I wanted more from my career. After a decade in marketing and proposal management, I was ready to explore what was next. Would I move toward business development and client-facing work? Dive into the technical side with project management? Lead a team of proposal professionals? Stay in proposal management but focus on the pursuits I found most rewarding? Or pivot to corporate marketing and communications? There were plenty of career paths to consider – but my current reviews weren’t helping me find clarity. So, I approached the process differently. From the perspective of an employee seeking a collaborative, meaningful review experience, my first
step was to track my own performance and create a short presentation highlighting my impact. I built a five-slide deck that included: ■ Goals I’d set for myself and the progress I’d made on them
Major proposals and projects I’d worked, including big wins and their value Direct feedback from internal clients and teammates
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■ Side projects and leadership initiatives beyond my core role – professional development, conferences, mentoring, marketing collateral, AI initiatives, and more
See MERCEDEZ THOMPSON, page 8
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 1, 2025, ISSUE 1611
ELEVATE THE INDUSTRY®
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