Renew with the seasons

By: Carl Dierschow Wednesday August 16, 2017 Tags: Carl Dierschow

By Carl Dierschow

Small Fish Business Coaching

The growl of a school bus powering up the street awakened me this morning. Combined with one of the wettest Augusts I can remember, I now feel welcomed to Fall -- even though it’s over a month away.Carl_Dierschow_USE_1

Seasonality is a significant part of many businesses. It might be the holiday retail season, the school year, weather cycles, or the calendar year. Most likely you see a significant yearly cycle in your industry.

The challenge is that your people -- employees, contractors and leaders -- are also a part of larger society. Those with kids are likely remembering their summer vacation while gearing up for the intensity of the school year.

Because we live in Colorado, the changing seasons also affect our moods. Some folks are excited about the prospects of cooler weather and snow, while others will start missing the long summer days and outdoor activities.

Yes, this relates to your business. Each change is a chance to refresh and renew, to get a different perspective.

Because, honestly, most jobs get repetitive and boring over the years as you get more experienced.

As a leader, your opportunity is to use the change of seasons to help your people refresh and reboot their thinking. This is a good thing, not an annoyance.

Rather than just being at the mercy of outside changes, your challenge is to find ways to build on them for the good of the business. If your folks are thinking about back-to-school, tie that theme into your team meetings and communications.

If they’re thinking ahead to the holiday season, adjust your reward incentives to help them through the financial stress. When the days get shorter, find ways to let workers see some daylight during the work day.

It’s about recognizing that we’re all human, and we live in a real world. And that your business has some empathy with what we’re experience.

After all, you don’t want your people to feel like the organization is a soulless machine that just grinds them up for the work they produce.

 

If you’re interested to explore this idea more, check out my Values Based Business blog where I write on this and similar topics.

Carl Dierschow

About the Author: Carl Dierschow

 

Carl Dierschow is a professional business coach in Northern Colorado. He’s the U.S. associate for Small Fish Business Coaching, headquartered in Australia. He works with owners of small and medium-size businesses to radically improve their success through strengthening market position, improving customer attraction and loyalty, building more powerful organizations, etc. Carl brings more than 15 years of business coaching expertise to helping businesses solve their critical issues and achieve their goals. His best tools are straightforward yet powerful, transparent, and biased toward action. Visit his website at www.smallfish.us.