Greetings!
Welcome Spring!
Along with the beauty of freshly bloomed flowers and snow covered mountains, it’s the time of year known as “the purge,” also called spring cleaning. Rather it be your closet, your garage, your home or the office, we all know it’s better to work through the purge before the heat of summer turns us into weekend warriors at the lake, or couch potatoes in any air conditioned room available to us.
While practicing the purge in my un-air conditioned garage, I began thinking about all things one can purge. Not just our belongings and dust bunnies, but rather looking inside ourselves, as professionals. After all, the way in which we approach both tasks and staff in the workplace can create clutter and unnecessary chaos. Especially if things are not done properly, with care, in a timely fashion.
In addition to our processes, we must also examine both our methods and approach. We must remember being a leader does not give us more power, it gives us more responsibility; to our investors, board of directors, the public, our boss, and just as important, our staff.
Without good staff, we are doomed for failure. The way in which we treat our staff can have a positive or negative effect on the entire operation, as well as the employee’s home life. As leaders, we have a responsibility to treat our staff with dignity. An employee who feels respected and recognized at work will remain with the company longer than one who does not. As the old saying goes, “People don’t leave companies, people leave people.” And let’s be honest, it’s not just non-managerial employees who create problems.
The most valuable lesson I’ve ever learned from any of my former superiors is not what to do, but rather, what not to do. One of the easiest, inexpensive ways to retain good employees is by showing them respect. As leaders, we must learn to identify and purge our own negativity and bad attitude before we enter the workplace. As I recently heard a leadership coach say, “Get your head straight”. She couldn’t have said it any clearer.
Here’s to the Purge!
Jan Harrold
President, 2018
