The holiday season can sometimes be frustrating for a CEO who notices a drop in productivity, especially if it's in the senior ranks.
But what all leaders have to realize is that, while the holidays are a traditional time meant to celebrate family and friendships, they can also be very stressful. For anyone going through marital problems, dealing with illness or death, or coping with difficult family dynamics, the holidays can put unusual pressure on employees at all levels of the organization.
And it doesn't make it any better when the CEO makes it obvious to his executive team that he doesn't approve.
Here are four ideas for coping with the demands of the holidays and taking advantage of the opportunity to actually increase the morale of your direct reports.
First, show appreciation. Just before the start of the holidays, write a letter of congratulations to each member of the executive group and then read the letter out loud at a team meeting early in December.
Second, buy a gift for each executive, contacting their spouses to get suggestions, and gave the gifts out during the same meeting.
Third, invite the executives and their spouses to your home for a holiday dinner. Keep conversation on non-work topics so that the group can get to know each other better.
Finally, give each executive an extra day off during the holidays and manage their responsibilities for that day.
By actually supporting the holidays and encouraging fun and time spent on social activities, you can increase commitment and cohesiveness of the team for the entire year.
Related book: Don't get Scrooged by Dr. Richard Carson is a jewel of a handbook on how to avoid, appease, and even win over the Scrooges who haunt your holidays. You will always need to deal with Scrooges, grumps, uninvited guests, sticks-in-the-mud, and supreme party poopers. Learning to handle them whenever and wherever they appear is not just optional-it's essential.
Mackay&Associates
