Book Sarah
289-929-2625

Greatness Magnified

Shifting to Create Recognition Through COVID and Beyond

By Leave a Comment

Do you feel like just as soon as you, your family, or your organization figures out how to get through COVID, another shift happens – a spike or flattening of the curve, a change in “level” of severity, a new trend or technology is introduced – all of a sudden the game of work has changed yet again? To speak nothing of all the changes happening in your personal life and the people you live with.

It’s becoming very apparent now that we and our organizations have had a range of approaches from being reactive to proactive. To some extent, this was influenced by the industry you belong to as well as more “human factors” such as experience, risk-tolerance, preparedness going in, and how resourceful we were prior to COVID.

Reactive is Still an Action

Going into COVID, some were quick to respond: sending people home to work, jumping on ordering supplies, reaching out to clients. Reacting quickly bought some folks major points with their staff, suppliers and partners:

  • I’m confident we’re in good hands
  • I feel in the know
  • I believe we have what we need

Other organizations took their time to plan proactively, creating a redeployment plan, applying for grants before making formal layoffs, evaluating industry projections. 

And yet other clients had a blend of responding quickly and also strategically.

Being proactive to reactive, it’s all action. And we needed to take action. Do you remember that sense of pressure we all felt when this first happened? I remember. It was palpable.

So now, looking back, with our twenty-twenty vision, we may have views of “it could have been done differently” (in fact, I would be surprised if hindsight hasn’t brought such insights already). Here’s the thing though: it’s in the past. And we still have a long way to go. So let’s get a future-focused plan that serves everyone well, rights any wrongs, and builds on the rights.

Staying Future Focused

What we need to look at now is how we steer ourselves and the organization going forward. Do a gut check to see if there’s some repair work that needs to happen now to have a healthy tomorrow:

  • focus on the future recognitionWhat have we done to build people’s confidence and what’s made them worried?
  • How have we built relationship equity or have we depleted the emotional bank account?
  • Have we built people up or have we left them to their own devices?

I know one organization that had widespread layoffs but they were so supportive, available, communicative, and appreciative, they have built trust rather than torn it down with those temporarily out of work. For another with massive layoffs, they haven’t spoken to their people since the difficult news was delivered; good luck getting people back, getting productivity back on track, and maintaining integrity in your brand. Same situation, two very different approaches; two very different outcomes. The latter will have a lot of repair work to do to get back on track in the future, and the former have people chomping at the bit to prove their loyalty and contribute again.

Your reaction to COVID is a noticeable action that staff, suppliers and customers are watching carefully.

So what do you do if you wish you could have a “do-over”. What if, knowing what you know now, you’d take a different approach? It’s okay. Here are some ideas.

1. Right the Wrongs

If you played the “numbers game” – how many people do we need to layoff, how many clients can we defer paying, how many perks can we suspend – you likely are already feeling the negative fallout to that. Suppliers unhappy, negative Glassdoor ratings, people not wanting to pick up extra shifts as they return to work (or come back at all if offered the chance.) You have to change the game (better yet abandon any game playing actions or thinking.) 

If the organization has been playing with people – customers, staff, suppliers – like they are chess pieces versus real people, they have a lot of alternatives even in our current economy. We have to accept that our best will not return if we don’t give them a reason to. 

To keep your best relationships intact, starting today, it’s time to rebuild the relationship.  How?  Lots of ways:

  • Say sorry 
  • Tell them what your new way is going forward
  • Fix whatever caused the “numbers game” thinking in the first place
  • Have difficult conversations about how decisions get made
  • Ask for another chance
  • Express specific appreciation now and keep it going
  • Thank them for their patience 
  • Remind them to err is human and it’s been a tricky time for everyone including you

2. Rebuild Rituals

recognition ritualsWhether it’s returning people to work, sending folks back to their core role, reinstating contracts, reordering with suppliers, it’s key to get back to whatever rituals worked before COVID. If you used to have a daily huddle Monday, get back to it. If you would go out for Friday afternoon drinks, find a way to do it safely (even if it’s dividing up so numbers are small or doing it online.) If you normally celebrate birthdays, catch up with anyone who’s birthday was missed and restart it (here is the best way to do this virtually, quickly, professionally and cost-effectively.) If you used to throw baby showers, make it a combined virtual baby shower for all the folks off or going off with matching baby gifts. 

Right now, people need stability. Doing what has always worked, maybe in different ways, reinstating rituals, is key to folks feeling both a sense of normality as well as harmony with each other.

3. Return to Gratitude

Although it’s been the biggest health crisis of our age, we are fighting long-standing injustices, and you may be dealing with your own personal challenges during this time that no one at work may know about, I still encourage you to come back to a place of gratitude. 

Why? Aren’t we allowed to feel angry, ticked off, unhappy? 

Absolutely there is a right. And, that comes at a cost if it’s long-term.

Gratitude is something everyone can control. Gratitude changes your brain for the better so you can better weather whatever life throws at you, and it’s the same for the collective of the organization. One of the rituals you can come back to is recognition and appreciation. If it’s waned, now you need it more than ever.

Why aren’t things worse? I’m not minimizing things could have been different, or maybe even should have been, however, a better tomorrow is in front of you. 

  • What will be different? 
  • What is already working?
  • What is our best hope for moving forward?
  • Who can help make the best hopes for the future happen? 
  • Who are you so grateful for in your life and on your team? 

And by the way, for this last one, when you know who you’re most grateful for, don’t forget to tell them. It’s the first and easiest step toward gratitude. 

If you feel this will help someone in your world, feel free to forward. We’re all in this together. And reach out anytime if I can support you.

I’ve asked some speaker friends to share support, insight and tips to those of you who work in essential services.  Check out my new YouTube playlist called Essential Recognition. ​Visit, enjoy and share! 

Want more resources on how to create recognition? Check out these other blog posts:

The Essential Services Post-COVID Recognition Challenge

By 2 Comments

Will you join me in marking in your calendar, journal or, heck, writing a reminder on a post-it-note to show recognition and appreciate the essential services professional helping us get through COVID? When we are on the other side of this, how can you express your gratitude?

Things like:

  • Posting this image to social media
  • Texting “thanks for getting us through COVID” to a close friend or family memberrecognize others post covid
  • Writing some thank-you notes to the essential services businesses that stayed open
  • Creating a card with your kids for the local departments hit hardest by COVID (e.g., ER, ICU, Lab)
  • Writing a review of how resilient and dependable a business and their staff was during COVID
  • Joining the thank-you letter writing campaign to healthcare heroes
  • Filming a FB Live on Doctor’s Day, Nurses Week or any other “event” in 2021 (see dates list here)
  • Making a donation in honour to your local hospital, hospice or other healthcare organization for a piece of equipment that will make providers’ jobs easier
  • Posting a new sign on your lawn about thanks for getting us through this
  • Bake your favorite treat and ask for them to be put into the staffroom of a local essential services or healthcare organization/department (note: it’s important you don’t hand them out for infection control purposes)

Who to think about in your appreciation:

  • Doctors, nurses, allied health in hospitals, hospices, long-term care homes
  • Public health professionals
  • Municipal, provincial and federal government policy advisors
  • Bus drivers, mechanics, truck drivers
  • Grocery store clerks, managers
  • HR and Communications professionals in industry
  • Developmental services workers, PSWs, homecare professionals

What to know what else you can be doing to help right now? Here is a great article.

What other ideas do you have to recognize our essential services heroes post COVID? Who else should we recognize? I’ll create a follow up post with a more exhaustive list including more ideas and essential professionals.

Want to see more resources about how you can recognize other’s greatness? Check out these articles:

Can the Glass be Both…Half Full and Half Empty?

By Leave a Comment

One of the unexpected benefits of COVID is that my former colleagues and I have a “Zoom” lunch once a week. Have you found yourself doing something like this? Some of us still work in healthcare, some of us work in other industries now, and yet others like me work for ourselves. No matter our circumstance, we have all agreed making the hour to check in with each other is a non-negotiable and essential part of our month. How did we ever go so long between seeing each other before, we all wonder?

Not being able to physically get together drove our new connection habit, however it’s sustained itself because we can support each other to navigate these constantly challenging waters. And there’s zero judgement however we show up; resourceful and positive, negative and surly, sarcastic and snarky, joyful and excited. We just show up.

It blows our mind that not one of us are working the same “job” as we were three months ago. 

I get that you can relate. This is why we need people that we can talk about anything without fear of judgment and with people who “get us”. Who is your person or people you connect with regularly? Who keeps you grounded?

We talk about everything. How our kids are doing. How our businesses are surviving and shifting. How our organizations are fairing. How our communities are managing.

And by hanging out with each other, not only do we feel more connected and less alone, there are these juicy moments of insight that only happen when you hang out with people who elevate you.

For example, Janice, the lead of OD for a national healthcare organization said: Life is full of moments. Moments where it can be both good and not so good. She shared about how when she was losing her mom, she can distinctly remember holding her mother’s hand on her deathbed, feeling so overwhelmed with sadness, yet looking outside the window, and being in awe of the beauty of the gorgeous sunset.

 

Taking a “Both/And” Approach

We often think of our world in a binary way. I am either happy or sad. I’m either coping or resilient. I’m either “doing okay” or “not doing well”. What if we embraced Janice’s insights? What if we could have moments of “both/and”.

Is it that the glass half full or glass half empty? Could it be that the glass half full and half empty?

  • I like working from home and I miss being with my clients
  • I like spending time with my kids and I am annoyed when they fight
  • I like having a slower pace and I miss going out with friends
  • I like my new routine of taking long walks and I miss my dance classes

 

A Solution Focused Approach to Resiliency

Solution focused practitioners encourage us all to remember that life and work are full of the “both/and” rather than the “but/or”.

Want more on this solution focused perspective in challenging times? Check out some of our most liked posts; think of it as a solution focused buffet to fill your cup how you need it to be filled today.

  1. Even in the midst of an obstacle, roadblock, or outright failure, you have options: you can deflate, mitigate and elevate from it; all the options are available to you and you may fluidly move between them, which is not only okay, it’s human. Read more here.
  2. In the quest to gain control in a seemingly out of control external situation, we can sometimes over extend our energy; there is a need to shift and be agile and a need to be calm and grounded. If you’re finding you’re struggling to maintain a healthy equilibrium, you may find these tips helpful.
  3. Your role, job or business likely has shifted in ways you never could have imagined. There is both excitement in novelty and strain through adjustment. If you are seeking to understand yourself better and find meaning in this challenging time, this article may help.
  4. With so much intensity in the world today – riots, pandemic, violence – you may find yourself wondering, should I step up or hang back? Maybe it’s not one or the other; maybe you can find your voice in a way that makes sense for you. Learn some hacks here to confidently show up how you need to right now.
  5. We are learning so much about ourselves, the world, our families in challenging times like these. What will you pass onto your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews from what you learned about this time? And what have you learned already that would help? Here is a powerful reflection exercise to stay in your own wisdom right now and let it inform your insights you’re gaining now.

 

Who do you think might benefit from this post?

Will you share it with them?

And remind them of the greatness you see in them.

Why Your Zone of Excellence Matters More than Grades or PAs Ever Could

By Leave a Comment

zone of excellenceWhether you have kids at home or not, you can imagine how many dinner conversations we’ve recently been having about schoolwork; in Ontario, whatever grade you had before COVID, you’re supposed to not be able to get a lower grade than that. “Why does it matter how hard I work if my mark can’t get any lower?” Oh, man. Since when did grades become the singular marker of “success in school?” Perhaps at the same time when we decided in organizations that feedback happened every other year in a performance appraisal (she writes sarcastically.) Whether it’s kids or colleagues or staff, let’s have a real conversation about what performance means in our challenging uncertain times of today.

 

Do PAs Really Matter?

When we get so caught up in external measurements that define success, they take over as the measure of success. As soon as that measurement disappears, our shortcuts and misguided notions are exposed; the product (the PA) versus the process (every conversation between and including the PA) reveal themselves as reversed in importance. 

As Goodhart’s Law professes, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” Your PA – or your child’s grade – does not indicate success or not; it’s the conversation that is supposed to happen on an ongoing basis that is summarized in documentation in the PA. Just like it’s the entire semester of learning and how it provides a foundation for further study that matters most, not the report card.

But like most things, it’s the quantifiable that’s eventually seen as more desirable; quality takes so much more effort and time. However, like just about everything else in life, the thing that takes effort and energy actually matters most for connection, performance and satisfaction. 

So in answer to the question, do PAs really matter? Yes and no (you can find many bloggers ready to argue both sides.) For our purposes, let me cut to the chase.

If you’re having conversations about performance, give support and provide feedback, you’re fulfilling your role; you’ve done the most important work. If you get the PA done but you’ve barely laid eyes on someone, you’re wasting your time. Best to wait until you can attend to it as you should, and save your time for the conversation. 

What matters more is staying in your zone of excellence. And to do that, I’d like to suggest we need people to see and give us feedback about it. Without that, we’ll keep wondering about our performance.

What to Do When We Count Versus Converse

So, here’s what I’m going to invite you to do. Whether it is a conversation you need to have with your kids at the dinner table, a conversation with your peers at work, or a decision you need to make as a leadership team, I’m going invite you to refocus on the three things that enable you and others to stay in the zone of excellence:

  1. Focus on Growth

    It is always about growth. If it is allowing your organization, you personally, you professionally to grow, it’s still just as important and we need to give it the same focus, as if whether we’re measuring it or not. Focus on growth and support; performance  – no matter how you document it – gets taken care of when you care for the person’s success. As James Clear shares in his book Atomic Habits, are you 1% better than you were yesterday? The focus on continually improving is the surest way we will all be better.

  2. Connection Focus

    It is all about connection. We need to have meaningful connections such as conversations in between performance appraisals, that can be happening now, and in fact, should be happening now more than ever. That’s what really matters. It’s not the PA; it was never about the PA. Believe me, as someone who used to oversee the talent management process in a large not-for-profit, we came down hard on PAs because we were worried the conversations we’re happening (although in all fairness the spans of control were ridiculous for many), so we figured, if we forced a conversation every other year, then at least that’s something. See the flawed logic here?  It’s the conversations that happen in between PAs that truly accelerate performance and engagement. It’s the validation, the recognition, the appreciation that happens outside of those formal conversations.

  3. Support Focus

    Just like with our children, our conversations right now should be about acknowledging how resourceful and resilient we’ve been; if we want to stay focused on what matters right now, in the middle of COVID, what are the most important priorities (whether it’s getting to something on your to-do list because you have time or just getting through the madness of overwork)? Conversations that matter right now help people to keep the faith, roll with the punches, stay agile and feel appreciated. You don’t need to do away with all forms of measurement – after all, we’ve grown up since kindergarten with external evaluations, so for some, it may feel strange to not maintain that system (that’s why my kids, despite not liking being judged by a grade, they don’t know any other way.) It’s about believing in each other even though we can not “see” each other performing, and on the flip side, reaching out to people we think may need more support and guidance.

There’s Help

Let’s acknowledge where we find ourselves at this moment, we’re not entirely sure what the “right” way is. It doesn’t feel like the conditions for excellence, does it?

  • What should we keep and maintain? 
  • What should we put on hold? 
  • What should we discontinue? 

If I can help, I hope you’ll reach out. I may have an expert I can refer you to, a video or another blog to forward, or we can hop on a quick call. Reach out to me anytime at sarah@greatnessmagnified.com. 

In the meantime, thanks for all you’re doing to get through this challenging time, supporting your kids, your colleagues and your community. 

Want to see more resources about how you can recognize other’s greatness? Check out these articles:

What is the Difference Between Rewards and Recognition?
Why happiness is better than being perfect.
How do I Give Recognition That’s Sincere?

Need a Weekly Dose of Greatness?
Free VLOG and Resources

SIGN UP NOW!

Blog Categories