As much as a new year can inspire a fresh start, sometimes it has the opposite effect. For example, if you took it easy during the holidays and haven’t yet gotten up to speed, even consistent high performers can get complacent.
It’s worth seeing whether such a malaise is affecting any of your people (or you, for that matter), and if it is, you need to help them snap out of it immediately. The longer it drags on, the longer it will take to reverse course.
People get stuck for any number of reasons, but when you dig deep, it’s usually something related to a crisis of confidence.
The best way to move out of this place is to help your employees recall past scenarios where they have been successful – even triumphant – in their efforts.
Managers can guide someone out of this by helping the person remember a vivid success from the past. The goal is to recapture the feeling that accompanied that achievement.
When the person recalls the underlying feeling of success, she then can trigger that feeling as a means to get unstuck.
Your ability to encourage and guide the person through this rediscovery reinforces the successful feeling because she can articulate it to someone else (you) instead of possibly lapsing into negative self-talk by only talking to herself.
In other words, your conversation creates an anchor for that positive image, which can then be recalled and repeated.
A fast start at the beginning of the year will go a long way to generating meaningful results for your organization. Keep an eye out for those who may be stuck and help them nip it in the bud.
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill
Header image by DS Stories/Pexels.
