Leading Staff through Holiday Stress
The holidays are a busy time and can be truly challenging, both personally and professionally. Often when we are stressed, going in too many directions, overwhelmed, or dealing with organizational changes, our EQ takes a real nosedive; regardless of our rank or position (CEO’s to the front lines)! If, during stressful times, we take a few minutes to take a deep breath and think things through before we speak, we move from reactive mode to proactive mode and avoid being “inhumane”, which always turns out to be counter-productive. Recognizing Humanity in Organizations All organizations are “living organisms” filled with human beings. A colleague of mine, Sandi Cardillo, has a beautiful saying: “Make change more human for the humans.” Regardless of the type of change — loss of staff, shuffling the organizational chart, financial reorganization, company growth, etc. — the goal should be to “make the change more human for the humans”. As leaders, our goal is to get things done through others. As leaders, it is our job to set the compass for all our team members to grow and to bring their own capabilities (strengths) to the organization. As leaders, we create the environment for them to succeed by getting them in the right seat of the bus and then trusting they have the capability …