Well it’s been quite the 2 years, hasn’t it?

For many Australians, they’re more than eager for a decent break….a time to recuperate mentally, emotionally, physically even spiritually.  The toll of lockdowns, constant disruption to routines, home schooling and working from home, limited movement, limited freedoms…has piled on the stress with no real relief.  Melbourne especially earning the title of the world’s most locked down city.  What a change from the world’s most liveable city!?

A break over Christmas is exactly what we need not just to recover from the years that have gone before, but to recharge for the one ahead of us.  While it may not be quite the same (we hope as the 2020 and 2021) it will hold its own unique challenges.

It will require more of us than before but in different ways.

Companies will need all hands on deck to find ways to generate the revenue they sorely need as well as manage customer expectations as supply chain causes delays.  Navigating that well will be important.

Sales leaders must reconfigure and align their teams to how customers want to do business with them now: remote or in person?  What does a territory mean now?  How do we acclimatise our people back to in person meetings and how do we coax customers to come back out to meet face to face?

Re-establishing a high performing culture in the midst of the “Great Resignation” will require more of our leaders to build and strengthen trust and connection in deeper ways with their team members than ever before.

So, how can we encourage our teams to get the rest and recreation they need to refuel their spirits and return with new energy?

ONE:

Reward performance for this year with extended family leave so they have longer to switch off and reacquaint themselves with friends and family they may not have seen for months or years without the burden of a missed email or call.

TWO:

Give them an experience for a Xmas gift that is truly relaxing, rather than a bottle of wine or hamper, and encourage them to use it.

THREE:

Lead by example: make sure you get your hammock ready and some holiday reads in place to show your team how it’s done

FOUR:

Encourage them to get into nature which is like a reset button for our nervous systems: beach, bush, mountains, lakes…day trips are just as beneficial.

FIVE:

Gentle exercise and plenty of sleep. Sleep and rest enables our bodies to do what they do best: repair and recover.  Without enough sleep, all the time off won’t have the desired impact of helping them to replenish their energy stores.

It can take time to make the mental switch off from work to holidays.  Pressing the reset button on our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical reserves requires us to truly take care of ourselves in order to take care of others.

Oxygen mask rule.  Peace to all.