Day 108 | Character

More than one Client this week has employees with character issues.  Do you have an employee who IS A CHARACTER rather than someone who consistently demonstrates good character?

1. Try to catch character issues when hiring by being systematic in my Hire The Best - Avoid The Rest 10-step hiring system.
2. When character issues arise with employees, then write them up and make certain consequences are in place should the character issue repeat itself.
3. For every one time you catch a character issue, there are 5-10 other instances you do not know about...  BIG RISK.

Even well-behaved people of integrity can have character lapses so do not write someone off because of a mistake.  On the other hand someone who is having character issues weekly is a big risk.  You need to work those people out of your organization if they cannot correct their character issues quickly.

The solution is ACCOUNTABILITY.  Speaking of accountability...

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!

1. How did you do on your 3Strands this week?
2. At the end of today or at least before 9:00 a.m. Monday take Sanctuary time and hold yourself accountable to this week's 3Strands and define your 3Strands for next week?

Stay on track.

The Answer Is "No"

Someone who often gives great advice on providing a superb Client Experience is pushing the mantra:

The answer is "Yes," now what is the question?

The question is, "Will you manipulate me?"  The answer is "yes" because you have to manipulate people - or lie - if you teach your people to say "yes" to everything and then work their way out of it.

Typically this Wednesday post is longer, but I just could not wait to remind you that I am in your camp:

You can still provide a near-perfect Client Experience and say "No" to unreasonable requests.

Look to the Meeting Ideas section for one fun game to play to emphasize REALISTIC OPTIMISM rather than "the power of yes" that some people want you to blindly embrace.

If you are saying "yes" too often...

• Allowing poor-performing employees to stay too long
• Not enforcing the rule that techs document work as they go
• Looking the other way when people are chronically late

Then wake up.  These are attributes of a "Bad Boss."  These behaviors are a choice.

If you are sick of the cost of these types of choices, and you want to be a better leader, or would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.  

BE a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership;  inspiring others in Meaningful Work;  and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to people around you.

Meeting Idea

Have a team meeting. Explain you want to reinforce your company's commitment to be positive, encouraging, and going above and beyond for your Clients.

The game is simple.

1. One person is a tech or a sales person for your company.  The others are your Clients.
2. You will give $100 cash (show at $100 bill) to anyone who can answer "Yes" to 10 questions in a row posed by the group.
3. Start with relatively easy questions.  You do want to reinforce that a "yes" is important when appropriate, even when it means you have to stretch to deliver.
4. The same question cannot be asked twice of one person, or of another person.
5. Encourage positivity, but reinforce REALISTIC OPTIMISM, empathy, and respectful problem solving rather than saying "yes" to services you never agreed to provide.
6. At the end tell everyone they are winners and buy them lunch.

Are You Ready to Play?

Yesterday the Seattle Seahawks came to the Superbowl ready to play - they had energy, intensity, swarming defense...  and the Broncos kind of just showed up and never knew what hit them.

What can you do this week to create an environment where your employees motivate themselves to be their best rather than just show up?

This is a question that is woven deeply into your Sanctuary time activities each week, but now (on Mondays) it is time to apply your plan of action.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had his team fully prepared to win.  Are you doing the same for your team?

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.

Employee Training Idea

Have you ever hired someone, invested thousands of dollars in training the person, and then they quit?

That can be quite expensive, yet it is fairly common in the tech field.  I recently heard of a company within innovative approach to overcoming this problem.

1. They determined the number of months an employee should work for them for their company to receive a decent return on the training investment.
2. They arranged with a local bank to give their employees loans for training expenses.  (NOTE:  The company did not guarantee the loans.)
3. The firm paid the monthly loan payments as long as the employee remained with the company.  If the employee left the company before the loan period was completed then the additional payments were their own responsibility.

I am not recommending this approach, but it is interesting and might be worth a pilot in some companies.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME (that you asked for)!

1. How are you doing on your 3Strands this week?
2. Have you defined your 2014 goals? 
3. If you have defined your 2014 goals, have you looked at them this week?

Stay on track.

Be a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership, inspiring others in Meaningful Work, and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to the people around you.

Check Out Our New Certle Video!

Most Important Thing To Do

The most important thing you may need to do this year and in the future is free.

 I mentioned this in a recent email, but I want to give you more detail and encourage you to try this for the next two months.  Let me know how much it helps you focus on what is really important each week.

This activity is called Sanctuary.  It is a weekly discipline of self-accountability. Here is an expanded, simple outline for your weekly Sanctuary time:

1. Be systematic. Set aside the same 30-120 min. weekly. Do not look at or interact on email, cell phone, texting, instant messaging, or other distractions during your Sanctuary time.
2. Review your mission, vision, and values.
   • Have you been demonstrating these company culture cornerstones in your actions?
   • How often are decisions being made in your organization based on these cornerstones?
   • What needs to be done for you and your people to better live these out in the upcoming week
3. Review your current year's goals. Hold yourself accountable to progress weekly.
4. Review your 3Strands from the prior week. Hold yourself accountable to 100% completion weekly. This is not a to-do list that lives on forever.
5. Define your 3Strands for the upcoming week.
6. STOP. Identify activities you did this past week that you need to delegate to others.  Confirm you are focusing your time on what you do best.
7. Apply part or all of steps #2-6 to each of your key direct reports to focus your leadership in the week ahead.

One of the biggest challenges we have as leaders is FOCUS.  Pilot the Sanctuary discipline for the remainder of Q1.  So far no one has completed the full Sanctuary experience and concluded it did not help them.

We teach people who are in management positions, but have never been taught systematic leadership, to be GREAT Leaders instead of "Bad Bosses."  If you want to be a better leader, or would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.

BE a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership;  inspiring others in Meaningful Work;  and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to people around you.

Selfish Sundays

I encourage you to take a full day off a week from work, maybe even two days (radical thinking)..  but this is not what I mean by "Selfish Sundays."

Consider this insight as you go through work this week so you are not blindsided.

Yesterday I drove three of our kids to church.  My wife stayed home with one who was sick.  As we were about a mile from our off-ramp, I checked whether I could merge in our suburban into the lane on my right.  There was room, but the car behind me in the lane to my right was closer than I prefer, so to be polite I put on my turn signal.

What did the woman who was in the small sedan behind me in that lane do next?

She accelerated so she was one car length away from the car in front of her to block my coming over.

I was not mad.  It just seemed so stupid.  I tapped my horn to let her know that I did not appreciate it. She put up her hand to show me her I.Q.  I slowed, did my merge, and went on my way chuckling at her foolishness.

Note the facts:  I was in a Suburban.  She was in a tiny sedan.  I am a reasonably large man.  She was much smaller than me physically.  She might do that someday to someone who is not going to simply give her a gentle beep of the horn.  She might be a catalyst for road rage.

After church, another woman in an even smaller sedan cut in front of me at the gas station.  And some people think just men are rude...

MY POINT:  Be prepared each week to not let fools affect your attitude.  Too often a selfish person's actions can upset us for hours, days...  or a lifetime, and yet the fool has gone merrily on their way not giving us another thought.

Be prepared to just let it go...except when it is your employee.  Then you need to stay calm, but professionally, respectfully, and encouragingly correct them.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.

RE-Leadership

Are you too busy to become the leader you were designed to be?  Have years passed with the chains of mediocrity still holding you back in certain areas where you know you could be better?

It is pretty sad to realize how much time has been lost not being our best.  It took me 29 years to start improving my leadership skills.  I am 11 years into this never-ending journey and thankful for each day I began it.  Please do not wait as long as I did.

So, Firefighter, how can you experience an awesome miracle, not of leadership, but of RE-leadership when you are so busy dealing with the challenges of each day?

This is a longer conversation than this quick note can unpack.  Email me if you want to discuss your specific challenges.

One Quick Tip:  I suggest you define your destination, and then the first stage of that journey.  Follow Bill Hybels' (Stronger in Faith) advice:  He recommends you pray about it and start walking in the right direction while relying on God to give you the strength to complete that first stage.

You did not get where you are today overnight.  The journey to your destiny is not instantaneous, but rather a discipline with exhilarating moments of triumph.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (I encourage you to take Sanctuary time sometime between late today and when you start work on Monday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How are you doing on your 3Strands this week?
3. How are your people doing on their 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.   Email me if you need help.

3 Simple Ways to Retain Top Performers Longer

Total Transformation

Century Rowland Plaza (Cinemark) is the multiplex in town.  Recently my family and I went to see the movie Frozen.

I looked forward to the movie, but not the theater.  It was typically dirty, the employees bored, and I just did not feel appreciated although it costs our family $50-$100 to see a movie.

Whoa, what happened?

 It all started when I bought my mega-popcorn that has the free refill.  That is the closest thing to a reasonable price for popcorn because we have two adults and five kids gobbling it up.

The very pleasant young lady asked me if I would like my refill immediately rather than go to the trouble of returning to the lobby.  Typically my impression was that management hoped I would not return so they would retain a higher profit margin on my purchase.

Then I asked for seven empty cups to fill with water.  Another smiling young lady gave me the cups and encouraged me to use the water fountain around the corner.

Then the capper:  As I was filling the cups with water I spilled the  popcorn.  Big mess.  Two young men who work for the theater saw me.  One assured me immediately that it was no problem at all.  They would clean it up, and he asked if he could go refill on my popcorn for me.  When I said yes, he asked if I wanted butter on it.

I apologized again for the mess as his associate started to clean up my spilled popcorn.  He assured me that it was no problem at all.  The other guy returned promptly with my newly filled popcorn container.

WHAT HAPPENED:  A new general manager started two months ago.  She or he apparently knows how to hire and train people.  For the first time I left the theater thinking I might hire one of those young people some day.

MY POINT:  It is never too late to start working on improving your company culture.  Your Clients and prospective clients can spend their money with a lot of other companies. Why not stand out from the competition? This is the work we do with our Clients.  If you would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.

BE a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership;  inspiring others in Meaningful Work;  and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to people around you.

Meeting Idea

I suggest a meeting based on this example is best done as a team.  Ask your team to arrive at the meeting with stories of their best example and worst example of customer service.

Here are some quick ideas for your meeting:

1. Start the meeting by reading your company's mission statement (WHY you are in business), vision statement (WHERE you are going or growing as a business), and values (HOW you do business).
2. Ask your people to identify where the negative stories of customer service violate your mission, vision, and values.  Then ask the first person to share their story, and discuss the violations.  Repeat the process until everyone has shared their negative story and your team has evaluated that situation compared to how your company does business.
3. Now ask your people to identify where the positive stories demonstrate your mission, vision, and values.  Then have the first person to share their story, discuss the similarities to your mission - vision - values, and continue to evaluate each person's story one at a time.
4. Make a list of 3-10 things your organization could do to improve your Client Experience.
5. Make a list of 3-10 things your organization has to do to improve your company culture so that you can improve your Client Experience.
6. Ask your people if they would like to pilot one change in the way you interact with Clients over the next month based on what you've learned through this exercise.
7. If they say "yes," then agree on which process improvement you will pilot for one month - that is, one Client Experience process or interaction, and one action item to improve your company culture.

Test your new system as a 30 day pilot and assess the results.

An Ideal to Strive For

I watched the movie, Man of Steel, over the weekend.  Tom Brindley had encouraged me to enjoy Superman's dilemma of not being of this world, but being in this world.  I was not disappointed.  Read the review link yourself and enjoy it.

In this movie Superman gets to talk with his biological father, Jor-El, by way of a hologram/near-sentient computer program.  Jor-El explains the "S" on Superman's chest is a different letter in Krypton' s language, and it stands for hope.

Does the symbol of your company stand for hope?

Jor-El further encourages his son, Kal-El (Superman), "Give the people of earth an ideal to strive for.  In time you will help them accomplish wonders."

How are you giving your employees, Clients and vendors "an ideal to strive for?"

An organization that does these two things well while managing their finances prudently is unstoppable.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.   Email me if you need help.

P.S.  Here is one additional thing to do during your weekly Sanctuary time:  Review your company culture cornerstones (mission, values, and vision) at the start of your quiet time.  How well did you demonstrate them this past week, and do you need to plan ways to incorporate them into your activities this week?

Sanctuary

Lee Iacocca turned around Chrysler Corporation decades ago.  One of the systematic actions he took that he credits as being crucial to his success was what I call "Sanctuary."

Every Sunday evening he would separate himself from the family to go to his study.  There, without any interruptions, he would review his key objectives of the prior week to confirm how well he had done on them, and define the key objectives he had to achieve to keep the company solvent in the upcoming week.

What is a simple outline for your weekly Sanctuary time?

1. Be systematic.  Set aside the same 30-120 minutes weekly.
2. No interruptions.  No email, cell phone, texting, instant messaging...
3. Review your 2014 goals.  Hold yourself accountable to progress weekly.
4. Review your 3Strands from the prior week.  Hold yourself accountable to 100% completion weekly.  This is not a to-do list that lives on forever.
5. Define your 3Strands for the upcoming week.
6. Consider how you spent your time this past week to identify things you can stop doing and delegate to others.  Confirm you are focusing your time on what you do best.
7. Repeat steps #3-7 for your key direct reports to prepare for how you can best serve them in the week ahead.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME (that you asked for)!

1. How are you doing on your 3Strands this week?
2. Have you defined your 2014 goals? 
3. If you have defined your 2014 goals, have you looked at them this week?

Stay on track.   Email me if you need help.

Got Your Back

John DiJulius recently spoke of what he calls "Anticipatory Service" in one of his newsletters.  His example was something Amazon did recently.

Amazon contacted customers who purchased songs years earlier to offer them a free MP3 copy of those songs.  They did not try to close a new sale.  Instead Amazon gave up the profit of a small sale to communicate the value of their Cloud Player service.

They communicated to their customers:

We've got your back.  You can trust us.

I suggest you proactively look for these opportunities and capitalize on them.  The additional revenue generated by increasing and sustaining trust with your loyal Clients far surpasses the small profit you may earn with borderline integrity.  We must remember our Clients not only pay us, but refer us to new business.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME (that you asked for)!

1. How are you doing on your 3Strands this week?
2. Have you defined your 2014 goals? 
3. If you have defined your 2014 goals, have you looked at them this week?

Stay on track.   Email me if you need help.

Be a Systematic Leader to improve employee productivity, company profits, and the personal fulfillment of your team.  (The first person you have to manage is yourself.)

Beat The Bully

A few years ago at a large high school in Nova Scotia, Canada, a freshman decided to attend classes wearing a pink shirt.

As he was walking down a school hallway, the school bully threw him to the ground, kicked him a few times, and warned him never to wear a pink shirt to school again.

Two junior boys slid down next to their embarrassed, injured, and scared peer.  They asked him an odd question:  "Would you please wear that shirt again tomorrow?"

The freshman thought they were nuts, but they assured him that he would be safe.  The two juniors then spent most of their remaining day rallying other students through social media to wear pink the next day.

The following day over 1,370 of 1,500 students showed up wearing pink to make a huge declaration that there would be no more bullying at their school.

Steve Carter tells the story in more detail as part of his superb December 29 teaching at Willow Creek. 

MY POINT:  Some of your employees are bullies.  They do not want to change their bad habits.  They may even pick on other employees.    

Bullies are bullies because they were bullied.  Most of the time employees who are performing at a low level are not aware of it or do not care.

THE SOLUTION:  Create an environment where your employees motivate themselves to change for the better.

Consider the wisdom of the ancient verse of Proverb 9:7:

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;  whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.

In the story above the two juniors did not physically engage the bully.  They wisely avoided direct confrontation.  Instead they overwhelmed him with an environment that motivated him to change on his own.

This is often the work we do with our Clients.  If you would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.  

Stop letting your bullies negatively affect your bottom line.

Be a Systematic Leader because inconsistency hurts.

Only The Best

Day 101

In the last month I have worked with two great Clients to help their teams develop their Company Culture Cornerstones.  This is a pivotal meeting that allows everyone to participate in defining the foundation of their organization.

There is one problem:   In each case the employee in charge of buying the lunch for everyone bought low-cost pizza.

I suggest that if you want your people to only do their best for your Clients, then you need to communicate that your employees always get your best.

When it comes to meals or snacks at meetings, serve only GREAT food.  This clearly  communicates, "My people deserve only the best," whether you saved or not.  

Serve the best to visiting Clients and sales prospects.  If they comment on the quality of the food, then simply say, "Our pleasure."  As an option you might add, "You deserve it."

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME (that you asked for)!

1. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
2. What are your 3Strands for this week?
3. When was the last time you looked at your 2014 goals? 

Email me if you struggling to achieve your top priorities.

BE a 

3STRANDS 

LEADER

Systematic Leadership, inspiring others in Meaningful Work, and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to the people around you.

Daily LEADERSHIP Tip / What's Your ONE?

Day 99

I believe it was three years ago that Arnie Bellini at IT Nation challenged ConnectWise partners to define, What's your ONE?

I have heard this mantra elsewhere, but Arnie articulated it particularly well.  I suggest this is a great way to start the New Year.

     1.  Assess how well you did on your 2013 clear, measurable goals;  and on a scale of 1-10 how fully engaged your company culture is.

     2.  Define your clear, measurable goals for 2014.

     3.  Define the ONE most important objective you have for this New Year.

I have done this, but my ONE is confidential.  Possibly it can be revealed at year-end.

Accept this challenge:  Define the ONE most important thing you want to achieve in 2014.  Do it now, and review it daily during January.  Edit your ONE if you must, but lock it in by month-end.  Then continue to review it daily to retain your focus.

When should you review your ONE?

Some people feel the best time is just before you go to bed.  I leave it up to you.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME (that you asked for)!

     1.  How did you do on your 3Strands last week (or have you just returned from a long holiday break)?

     2.  What are your 3Strands for this week?

     3.  Have you defined your 2014 goals? 

Your Clients' satisfaction with your company cannot exceed the loyalty and engagement of your employees.  Email me if you need help.

BE a 

3STRANDS 

LEADER

 - Systematic Leadership, inspiring others in Meaningful Work, and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to the people around you.

Thank you.

Christmas Leadership Lesson #3 of 3

Don't miss our 15-25 minute webinar tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. PST explaining how we have updated our employee strategic plans.  Register here.

The boss overheard a new employee talking about how he and his wife were "swingers" to other employees.  The boss made it clear to the employee that what he did in his personal time was his business, but he did not want to hear that subject coming up again in his company.

NOTE:  I live such a secluded life that I was unfamiliar with the term "swinger" in the context it was used.  lol...

A short time later the boss got a call on a Saturday from a client.  That seemed odd.  The client talked about fairly unimportant things for a bit and then the boss asked what the call was really about.

The client explained that the boss's new employee was onsite the day before doing some work.  It was late in the afternoon.  After his work was done he began to flirt with the two 19-year-old ladies at the reception desk.

He invited them out for drinks, even though they were underage, and then suggested afterwards they go back to his place.  His eight month pregnant wife would be asleep and wouldn't mind if they had a good time together.

Needless to say, the new employee was quickly unemployed.

Christmas LEADERSHIP Lesson #3:  Love.  We all want to be loved.  Feeling appropriately appreciated is part of experiencing meaningful work in a strong company culture.

It is a core responsibility of GREAT Leaders to consistently demonstrate your company values in your words and actions.  "Loving" employees means treating them with dignity, honor and respect at all times.  It does not involve physical touch or lust.

No matter how strong your company culture is, never assume your employees values match yours, or that they have the ability to avoid temptation.  Note:  The risk of values violations increases significantly when your company encourages alcohol consumption among employees. 

I encourage you to do some planning before 2014 to specifically define how and when you will demonstrate love to your employees, Clients, vendors, community...  and most importantly of all, your family.

Have a blessed Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's season!

My next newsletter will be January 6, 2014.

P.S.  EmancipateME, the nonprofit that owns 50% of MANAGEtoWIN, received its 501(c)(3) approval from the IRS this month.  If you would like to support our work to help nonprofits working on the front lines of human trafficking leaves visit the EmancipateME website and make a tax-free donation.

Email me if you need help with your company culture, challenging employees, and/or to learn the LEADERSHIP Essentials of inspiring people.  

Be a Systematic Leader because inconsistency hurts.

Daily LEADERSHIP Tip / Get Your Gee

Day 98

I am working with Scott Spiro of Computer Solutions Group of Los Angeles.  He is a driven leader who cares a lot about his people.  Scott is working diligently to develop a stronger company culture.

A while back he had a project manager that he wanted to recognize for great work.  Scott found out from the dojo owner where this employee was learning karate that the project manager really wanted a high-end gee that is only available in Japan.

So Scott went to the trouble and expense to purchase a couple of hundred dollar gee from Japan for this employee.  It really meant a lot to the guy.

Do you know the personal preferences of your employees well enough to give them gifts that are really meaningful to them?  If not, you might want to try our Personal Preferences survey which we encourage our Clients to implement as part of our LEADERSHIP Essentials Service / Academy, and All-In LEADERSHIP programs.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME (that you asked for)!

     1.  How did you do on your 3Strands last week?

     2.  What are your 3Strands for this week?

     3.  Have you defined your 2014 goals? 

Obviously there is not a lot of time left in 2013.  Email me if you need help.

Be a Systematic Leader - because inconsistency hurts

Thank you.

Daily LEADERSHIP Tip / NEW Employee Strategic Plan Format

Day 97

Our Clients are updating their "team member" or "employee" strategic plans this month for 2014.  Would you like to learn how our employee strategic plans have changed over the past year to be even better?

Attend this brief webinar at 1:00 p.m. PST next Thursday, December 19 to learn how we have updated our employee strategic plan format so it is even more powerful and effective in offering your employees and environment where they motivate themselves to be the best they can be.

And do not forget... IT IS FRIDAY!  A basic part of an Accountability Culture is following-up on your weekly 3 Strands to confirm you made progress on your most important 2013 goals this week.  How are you doing this week?

Do not forget to hold your people accountable too.  2013 is almost over.  You may have to stop fighting fires and focus on what is truly important.  Every day is important to help you fully achieve your 2013 goals.

Let me know if you need help.

Be a Systematic Leader - because inconsistency hurts

Thank you.

Christmas Leadership Lesson #2 of 3

Have you ever felt like you are running a daycare at your office?

You may not be far off.  Our employees, just like ourselves, come to work each day with lots of conscious and subconscious "baggage." 

Our job as leaders is to help them enjoy meaningful work and feel valued as a member of our team.

Christmas LEADERSHIP Lesson #2:  Certainly some aspects of your company are like being part of a family, but GREAT Leaders help each employee regularly feel like a valued member of their team.

Consider these words written and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman:

Well I don't know if you remember me or not
I'm one of the kids they brought in from the home
I was the red-haired boy in an old green flannel shirt
You may not have seen me - I was standing off alone
I didn't come and talk to you, 'cause that's never worked before
And you'll prob'ly never see this letter anyway
But just in case there's something you can do to help me out
I'll ask you one more time

All I really want for Christmas
Is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose
Shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for
But there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family

Well I guess I should go ahead and tell you now
If it's really true about that list you have
Somehow I always seem to end up in a fight
But I'm really trying hard not to be bad
But maybe if I had a brother or a dad to wrestle with
Well, maybe they could teach me how to get along
And from everything I've heard
Sounds like the greatest gift on earth would be a mom

All I really want for Christmas
Is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose
Shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for
But there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas

Is someone who'll be there
To sing me "Happy Birthday"
For the next 100 years
And it's OK if they're not perfect
Well, even if they're a little broken, that's alright
'Cause so am I

Well, I guess I should go
It's almost time for bed
And maybe next time I write you
I'll be at home

'Cause all I really want for Christmas
Is someone to tuck me in
Tell me I'll never be alone
Someone whose love will never end
Of all that I could ask for
Well, there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas
All I really want for Christmas is a family

Just a family

That's all I really need

You may not feel called to adopt children as we have, but you can have a significant impact on the world by helping the people in your office do work that is meaningful to them and regularly communicating you value them in ways they prefer. 

I suggest this thought is worth 15 minutes of pondering over a good cup of coffee or tea.

P.S.  EmancipateME, the nonprofit that owns 50% of MANAGEtoWIN, received its 501(c)(3) approval from the IRS this month.  If you would like to support our work to help nonprofits working on the front lines of human trafficking visit the EmancipateME website and make a tax-free donation.

Email me if you need help with your company culture, challenging employees, and/or to learn the LEADERSHIP Essentials of inspiring people.  

Be a Systematic Leader because inconsistency hurts.