Happy New Year!
Discover more from How to Lead Everybody (with their permission)
I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that the holiday break was too short.
Most of us are returning to work this morning. Some are working in-person. Some are working remotely. But all of us are still dealing with the grind of a pandemic we had hoped would be DONE by now. We’re also dealing with all of the stresses of everyday life—scheduling our new workload into what seems like an already over-full schedule, dealing with family issues, commuting, childcare, getting those new health insurance cards for 2022, and (gah!) it’s already time to start organizing the tax information.
And we’re doing all of this in the coldest and darkest part of the year.
So, consider finding ways to make your people feel appreciated for all they are continuing to do. Bring in an extra box of those tasty coffee pods everyone likes. Include praise for the ongoing good work each person is doing in the team meeting. Ask your staff what they are looking forward to in the new year, and help them see things that makes them feel valued and successful that they can do professionally—contributions to projects, jobs they can “knock out of the park,” ways that they can help the team, improvements on which they can give their input, etc.
People might need a little extra motivating this year. As leaders, we can build our people up at times like this, and we will see long-term benefits in improved morale, retention, and productivity.
(Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash)