The 12 Day Leadership Challenge

Reposted from a recent December newsletter.

Fostering an Environment of Transparency, Collaboration & Trust

Liddell Consulting Group challenges you to spend 12 days on strengthening your company culture. 

If we know you as well as we think we do, half of you are out there saying – “Our company culture is already great.”  And the other half of you are saying – “What does strengthening our company culture matter to the success of the company?”  To that we say, how much does it cost each time you have to replace an employee who has left?  Can you quantify hours spent by an employee who is engaged vs. one who isn’t?  The actions, habits, moods and reactions of leadership are the guiding light for the health of your company.  Take the challenge.

1. Be present.  On this first day of fostering an environment of transparency, collaboration and trust.  We challenge you to spend a day not worrying about the future of your company or working through past mistakes, but rather appreciating each interaction you have today.

2. Listen.  On the second day of leadership, attend as many department meetings as you can and listen to the interactions and planning and problem solving that is taking place.  Instead of interjecting solutions or steering the conversation, listen and observe.

3. Communicate. The third day of leadership, spend your day sharing.  That doesn’t mean divulging the details of every plan you have in the works, but rather spending the day talking to each employee about how his or her role matters to the overall success of your company.

4. Be creative.  The challenges leaders face are becoming more complex and diverse.  Spend the fourth day of leadership researching how to counteract the effects of just one of your top challenges from an entirely new perspective.  Reach out to peers, your network, your teams and view this challenge creatively.

5.  B r e a t h e . 
On the fifth day of this leadership challenge… breathe.  Take a moment to care for yourself.  It isn’t selfish or frivolous.  To the contrary, taking time out for yourself is healthy, and it will make you a stronger leader.

6. Be encouraging.  Your opinion matters.  It may or may not seem necessary to you to receive encouragement from others, but it is to your employees.  Find something to compliment or reinforce with everyone you encounter on this sixth day.

7. Be enthusiastic.  Just like on day six, this seventh day is about being the example.  If you are enthusiastic about the direction your company is taking and the successes you have achieved throughout the year, the people around you will be too.

8. Build bridges.  The eighth day of leadership is the day to build bridges.  Identify two or more teams or team players who may need to better understand the perspective of the other, and bring them together to talk about something other than what they may disagree about.  Finding common ground helps unify.

9. Evaluate.  Today, take time to review your employee engagement programs.  Look back at what has worked well in the past and what has been more of a struggle.  What do you have planned for the coming year? Spend day nine evaluating.

10. Identify.  At this point in your 12 days of leadership challenge, you have likely started to notice a few new things.  On this tenth day, identify a few people who may need a little extra support either professionally or personally, as well as a few emerging leaders at all levels of your organization who deserve additional recognition.

11. Be thankful.  Pay attention to the little things today. Spend day eleven appreciating the details of what people do for you and the effort and time it takes.  Expressing gratitude generates gratitude.

12. Reflect.  Many leaders spend the majority of their day focused on the big picture, planning, and projecting for the company as a whole.  On the twelfth day of leadership look back and recognize where you started at the beginning of the year and where you are today.