Some of the most important pieces of feedback you receive as an academic are lagging indicators.
After submitting a manuscript and waiting for months, you’ll receive feedback from an editorial team and a decision on the manuscript. While this is critical for your career trajectory, it’s too late to be very useful from a professional development perspective. Similarly, an annual review with your department chair happens well after all of the work that you’ll review has been done.
What’s needed is a basket of leading indicators to complement the lagging indicators. Daily habits, informal feedback from colleagues, mentors, and presentation audience members can provide actionable insights that you can use right now to improve ongoing projects. This (hopefully) leads to better manuscripts being submitted, and more positive lagging indicators when they do come around.
Leading indicators require discipline; you have to set them, track them, and update your practices based on what they say. With lagging indicators, there is often someone else to blame (Reviewer 2!).
Leading indicators are on you.