In the song 12 Days of Christmas, on the second day, the gift is two turtle doves. This is likely familiar to you. in the 12 (Leadership) Days of Christmas, the second day’s gift is the gift of improvement.
If you don’t know what the 12 (Leadership) Days of Christmas are, you can get the full story – and learn what the other gifts are here.
For our purposes, improvement comes in two forms – improvement in process and workflow, and personal growth and improvement. Both are worthy objectives for leaders to support and encourage. But how much do you encourage these things?
With that tease, here is your gift-filled task today. Ask yourself . . .
– How much have work processes improved around you in the last few months? How have you supported those improvements?
– How comfortable are your team members in suggesting or simply making improvements, small and large?
– How do you support and encourage personal growth and improvement?
Make no mistake, improvement is a gift. People find frustration, challenge and gaps in their daily work – and they see these areas for improvement best, because they live with the work (and challenges) everyday. People want the tools, freedom, and resources to make improvements, yet often won’t or can’t without your help. Are you providing that help?
Most people want to grow and stretch in their work as well – but again they need help, encouragement, resources, perspective and sometimes even permission to do so. As a leader you are uniquely the person that can provide these things. Are you?
There are many forces that keep all of us from the gift of improvement, and as a leader you play a critical role in freeing and permitting people to overcome those forces.
Give yourself and your team the gift of improvement today.
Tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, I will share the final gift leaders can give now or anytime.
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