One of the comments about President Bush 41 in this week of memorializing his legacy was not to mistake civility for weakness. I thought this was particularly meaningful in an era where civility has taken a public back seat to disrespect and rudeness.
Civility recognizes the humanity of others. In fact, it embodies core characteristics of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy.
What kind of standards do you set for the product or service your company produces? Is “good” good enough? Or do you strive for excellence and consistently aspire to do better?
The difference between A and B starts with mindset. If your team perfunctorily goes through the motions and achieves the minimum, it probably isn’t “A” work. When the team has a strong work ethic and strives to do better each time, it’s likely a very different result.
Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude. It’s a time to pause, reflect, and give thanks for the things that mean the most to you. It’s one of the best times to express your appreciation for the important people in your life.
Beyond your personal expressions of gratitude, think about what you’re grateful for in your professional life. It’s really easy for the frustrations of our daily work life to wind us up, compounding the tensions that exist on the job.
What is your organization doing to grow younger professionals into leaders of the future? If your firm doesn’t have an initiative to accomplish this, it’s in your best interests to create one. Many reasons support this, but for now, let’s focus on two: succession planning and retention.
Succession planning: As companies grows and become more complex, succession planning becomes increasingly important. Even if the leaders who nurtured the company to its current level are still intact, some day they won’t be. Each department should plan for succession. If you don’t have internal candidates, it’s worthwhile to identify the characteristics of who will be appropriate as successor.
There are periods in all organizations when priorities collide and pressure escalates. People react to stress in different ways, and managers need to be mindful of this as they lead the way through rough terrain.
Your employees may become short-tempered, irrational, or even scared. Keep in mind that they may have never experienced whatever is now going on in your company.
Someone made this comment during a meeting and I was struck by its honesty. It didn’t take much further thought to wonder how many employees feel this way. If they have that kind of clarity, how long will they stay before moving on to something they perceive will be better?
You know the expression, “to reach the breaking point.” Not only do you know it, but surely, you’ve experienced it. Breaking points occur when so many things accumulate that the person gives way under stress.
Leaders are typically mindful of how much they can pile on to their average employees before they reach a breaking point. In fact, the typical employee is usually quick to point it out before it occurs.
A friend of mine offered this adage. We were talking about an overseas trip he had taken with his CEO, who unfortunately was stricken with food poisoning the night before their first meetings. He ended up making 10 presentations in three days on behalf of the ailing CEO.
This situation would be terrifying for most people, but my friend was totally prepared. As I listened to his story, I thought about how few people project beyond the boundaries of their own job and could step in for someone with no notice.
Reliability is one of those amorphous characteristics that is sometimes neglected in the work place. We see it in different ways. One team member may be reliable in terms of making deadlines while another is reliably late. One person may be reliable in completing tasks while another is reliably inconsistent.
Obviously, leaders want to emphasize the positive aspects of reliability. They also can’t ignore the negative factors, though, and need to emphasize to team members how this can be career limiting.
…to make a small act of kindness. This is especially important to remember for people who do those routine things that often blend into the background.
Once, I thanked a receptionist for bringing me water while I was waiting for my client. She later told me that she was so happy that I thanked her that she called her mother to tell her.