What's Going On?

I opened the newspapers this morning to read that the "son of a (local) porn king" beat the 29-year old mother of his one-year old daughter to death in my hometown, and in Florida as many as seven men murdered the adoptive parents of 13 special needs kids in an apparent robbery attempt.

What is going on in society today?

As much as I love to talk about how to save the world, my message today is simple: As leaders it is vital to the health and motivation of our people that we stop to reflect, re-energize and then re-emerge in our workplace with renewed passion to do our best.

Take your team out of the office. Go on a picnic at the beach, in the mountains, near a river or anywhere that has a breath-taking view at a certain time of day when you slow down enough to appreciate it!

Bring treats that your people like, not just what you like. Include their favorite non-alcoholic drinks.

Here is a potential agenda:

1. Explain that it just seems like a wise move to take a break to review your team's recent achievements, thank them and dream. There is so much negative news in the world right now that you don't want them to overlook the positive of "what is going on" in our lives.

2. Share stories of recent customer success. Be specific about the actual benefits to the clients. For instance, do not focus on an installation of a new mail server, but rather the problems that went away when the project was completed.

3. Thank people individually and specifically for what you appreciate about them. Your business is all about people! Ask others to add what they appreciate about each person before moving on to the next. (Engage 1-2 people before the meeting to ask them to be ready to add at least one compliment about a person if no one speaks up.)

4. Ask them what your company will be accomplishing in five years if they are living their dreams and what they would be doing as part of the team.

5. If you make commitments to help them live those dreams, or anything else, set a specific schedule for follow-up and live-up to your responsibility.

What's going on? Something good at your company. Do not let your people miss it.