If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard this dozens of times in the past few weeks, “I can’t wait until this year is over.” It’s not surprising given our current environment.
What with the severely contagious Omicron variant crushing massive swaths of the population or rushing to complete year-end deadlines or worrying about inflation, challenges like these have accumulated quickly and definitively.
The winter solstice took place in the northern hemisphere on Tuesday, December 21. Although many people simply think of this as the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, it is a day that is celebrated in different cultures.
Psychologically, some believe that this is a time to release anything that doesn’t align with our highest purpose. Although presented somewhat differently, last week’s column discussed using year-end as a time to identify what you want to keep, what you want to add and what you want to eliminate from your life. Sounds similar, doesn’t it?
Christmas is a couple of days away, and it’s time to take a long weekend and breathe. This December seemed to be one of the busiest in recent memory. Multiple deadlines, especially many that didn’t exist on December 1, mushroomed through the month.
If this sounds like your December, I feel for you! And if it’s feasible, I also strongly urge you to take a few days to regroup. No one can keep rushing endlessly, including you.
Last time we talked about prioritizing activities that you want to complete by the end of the year. Another important exercise for year end is answering three questions to help you identify and reframe your activities in the new year.
While reflecting on these questions, keep in mind both professional and personal interests.
Many people take a deep breath at the beginning of December. The realization that there’s only one month left in the year comes as a shock, no matter how many times you’ve gone through it!
The people who succeed are those who manage their priorities effectively. Not all priorities are equal! On the other end of the spectrum are people who are unrealistic about what can actually be completed in the remaining available time.
“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
– Nelson Mandela
You know it when you see it: a resilient person is someone who recovers from adversity and keeps going, regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes I refer to this as “bounce-back-ability”.
This month we are highlighting several competencies that have become more important in our evolving workplace. Last week the focus was on the value of flexibility. Today we’ll look at personal accountability.
Do you answer for your personal actions? Unfortunately, this is becoming rarer in the workplace. People are quick to blame others and slow to take responsibility for what they did or didn’t do.
In today’s quasi-post-pandemic environment, certain skills have become more important for successful performance on the job. Leaders need to encourage these in their employees, and to provide support if they are undeveloped.
We’ll be looking at three skills over the next few weeks, beginning today with flexibility. This competency takes on renewed significance if you are migrating towards a hybrid work structure, that is, working in the office for 2-3 days/week and work remotely for the balance.
Without question, improving communication is a perennial workplace challenge. Although communication has always been an issue, it is amplified in this quasi-post-pandemic environment when you consider video meetings, adapting to new technology, managing priorities with limited information, and constant fatigue about the uncertainty ahead.
Layer on the fact that people’s attention span has diminished substantially, what with multitasking, email and text overload, and anxiety over not having enough time.
Leaders develop proficiency from a lifetime of experiences. Many of these experiences occur initially upon becoming subject matter experts, such as IT technician, tax attorney, or financial advisor, to name a few.
Your leadership expertise develops as an outgrowth of these experiences. Keep in mind, though, that most people are not trained in what it is to be a leader. Many stumble into leadership and do what they think they are supposed to do in this new role.