HOLIDAY

Dec

2023

What Home Alone Taught Me About Leadership

Every year I get the opportunity to provide a leadership training program to a group of individuals who serve municipalities. One of their recent assignments was to watch a movie and report what they learned about strategic planning. One member watched Home Alone.

Since it is the Holiday season, I took time to watch Home Alone with some of my family. While watching the movie I saw some principles we can apply when it comes to our strategic planning. As you close out this year and head into a new one, I hope one or all of these are helpful to you.

Identify Problems

For those of you not familiar with the movie, the youngest boy in the family gets left home alone when the family flies to Paris for Christmas. At one point in the movie, he realizes there are burglars attempting to break into his home. He has held them off for a while, but learns they will be coming back on Christmas Eve at 9:00 PM. Kevin had a problem and he had to figure out what to do.

Within your organization, you may perform a SWOT analysis or some less formal way to evaluate the state of the organization and potential problems on the horizon. If you don’t, this is a great way to be proactive instead of reactive in how you lead your business.

Determine Your Plan

Once he identified the problem – they were coming at 9:00 PM he developed a plan. Kevin realized there were multiple possible entry points to the home, and he created obstacles for entry. Not only that, but he had a plan on how to get the police to arrive.

After you have identified threats and weaknesses, which are where problems are visible, create a plan. Take time to evaluate options, select the best one, and then implement that option. The critical step after you have determined a plan is to implement and adjust as needed.

Use Your Resources

Kevin was home alone, but he was resourceful. He used ornaments, paint gallons, tar, nails, shingles, a blow torch, and more to help implement his plan. He couldn’t run to the store and load up on ammunition or build a huge blockade. He used what he had at his disposal and moved ahead.

“We don’t have the resources” you may think as you look at your plan. That is okay. What can you do with what you have? This is the stage where you can tap into the creativity of your team. What can you do to move into action to take a step closer to your goal?

Accept Help

Even the best-laid plans don’t always work out. Kevin didn’t, as the burglars figured out what one of his final moves was and caught him. With fear in his eyes and his life at risk, help came from an unexpected place . . . I won’t tell you where in case you haven’t seen the movie.

We can create the greatest plan in the world and start moving forward, but eventually we will hit a roadblock. When that time comes, we need to have the humility to ask for help either from other members of our team or outside the organization. As we all know from 2020, unexpected and uncontrollable situations arise. In those moments we will need help and have to embrace it.

As you look at your organization or team which of these do you need to improve on for the upcoming year? Need help thinking into your strategic plan or need help developing the leadership, communication, or teamwork of those on your team? Contact me and let’s discover ways I may be able to assist you. In the meantime, build your plan, implement your plan, adjust your plan, and keep moving forward. Lead well.

Dec

2023

Leading Through the Holiday Stress

The holiday season. A time of joy, celebration, and…stress. As a leader, I am sure you understand all too well the struggle of managing stress during the holidays. It’s a time when our personal and professional lives collide, and the pressure to juggle it all can often feel overwhelming. Maybe one of these ideas will help decrease stress levels without adding to your already full plate.

Set Realistic Expectations

The level of work for both you and others can increase during this time. Whether the pressure of closing the year and meeting certain goals or personal pressures from family commitments. The holiday season is not the time to take on more than you can handle. Understand you and your team may not be able to accomplish as much during this time, and that’s okay. Be mindful of your limitations and communicate them to your team. This will help alleviate some of the pressure and prevent burnout.

Delegate or Purposefully Procrastinate

As business leaders, we often feel like we need to have our hands in every aspect of the business and everything is top priority. The truth is, you have a team for a reason. Trust in their abilities and delegate tasks to them. If you don’t have a team then look at what you have to do and decide what can I purposely put off until after this season? This will not only help alleviate your workload, but it will also empower your team members and make them feel valued.

Self-Care

We can get to the other side of this season and feel exhausted. Part of this is from not taking care of yourself during this time. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, but it’s important to carve out time for self-care. Whether it’s taking a long bath, going for a walk, or simply taking a few minutes to breathe and recenter yourself, make self-care a priority. When you take care of yourself, you’ll be better equipped to handle the challenges that come with this busy time of year.

NO is Your Friend

Depending on your personality, this may be difficult, but don’t be afraid to say no. As business leaders, we often feel obligated to attend every holiday event and say yes to every request that comes our way. But the truth is, it’s okay to say no. Your time and energy are valuable, so be selective and strategic with how you choose to spend them.

Create a Supportive Culture

Regardless of the time of year this is important. During the holidays which can be extra stressful professionally and personally, fostering a positive and supportive work culture is important. Encourage your team to take time off and spend it with their loved ones. Offer flexible work hours or remote working options to allow them to handle personal holiday commitments. This will not only reduce their stress levels, but it will also create a sense of goodwill and loyalty within your team.

As you look at each of these areas, which one will help you navigate this season the best to reduce you and your team’s stress levels? Focus on that area to lead your team even better as you work through the holidays and enter the new year. Lead Well.

Dec

2020

Holiday Self-Leadership Part II

Last week I shared ideas on how to lead ourselves well during the Holidays. I’m continuing this week and as I said this is based on a series of videos I created last year, but the world has changed since last Christmas.

I don’t know if you’re like me, but life can get really crazy during the holiday season. There’s already expectations at work and at home, but then we pile on the often-unrealistic holiday expectations. Maybe a pressure to buy lots of gifts or excessive commitments to be at multiple events even in a time when gatherings are limited the pressure has gotten more complex. What can we do to help us with these expectations?

Even in a limited gathering time like this we still all have a lot going on, but maybe one of these ideas will help you adjust your expectations and maintain perspective during this time.

Community

This is a unique year in that we are limiting how much we gather, but we still need community. Community is connection whether in person, on the phone, or via video. People in our community can help us maintain a proper perspective. How do we build that community whether in person or otherwise?

Ask questions and be fully present with the other person. We’ve all done it. We are on the video conference or phone call and we only half listen because we are busy doing something else. When we are in person we look present, but mentally may be elsewhere. We were built for human interaction. During the holiday season take time to connect and listen for what other people need to understand appropriate expectations.

Realistic Goals and Expectations

Life is much different this holiday season than it was a year ago. Considering that, have we modified our expectations? We may not be able to get that perfect gift . . . and the other person may be ok with that. Chances are they care more about us being fully present with us emotionally than receiving a present. If gifts are important to those in our community, how could we provide them in a way that creates less stress while showing great love to those individuals?

Serve

A third idea is getting out of our own world. I know during the holiday season our family tries to find unique ways to help other people. In the past, we’ve delivered gifts or food to families in need. Also, we have gone to a place in downtown Indianapolis to wrap gifts for a community gift shop. Each of these ideas are ways we get a fresh perspective and help us be certain we have realistic expectations.

These were three simple ideas on what we can do to help us adjust our expectations and maintain perspective. As leaders when we have proper perspective and expectations we will be in a place to help those we lead do the same. Which of these areas will you engage with this Holiday season? Let me know and lead well.