A leader’s role in creating positive news
Many leaders and employees notice more what is not working than what is working within their work culture as the globe continues to be challenged by the COVID pandemic.
The leader's role of supporting employees continues to be tested. This won't get any easier over the next few years as the way work is organized evolves, the talent war grows and pressure to retain talent and navigate the economic fallout of COVID increases.
It's usually not hard to find fault or notice what's not working well. There's a natural tendency to take what's working well for granted and focus on what's not in place or not working well. While many things can be done better in organizations, some wonderful things happen every day in the workplace.
Lots of focus and conversation on negativity within a workplace can create a negative perception that may not be an accurate or fair depiction of the workplace culture.
A proactive and positive leader can create more positive news within the culture by focusing on positive moments that their team has determined matters — moments that create positive charge and experiences.
Most of us have heard the benefits of practicing gratitude. Focusing on how fortunate we are to have our health and breath when we're having a hard day may seem trivial for some. But ask someone diagnosed with a life-threatening illness how much they now take their life for granted. This is a vivid example, but often what matters is where we focus
attention.
Leaders can leverage positive psychology lessons by not taking for granted all the positive things that happen in the workplace. They daily notice positive moments that matter to the team.
CREATING MORE POSITIVE NEWS
I sometimes ask a keynote audience, “How much news do you watch daily, and how does
it help you?” One common theme I hear is that they find it depressing, indicating how the environment can significantly impact our mental state and attitudes.
A work culture can act like a news network that promotes information that influences employees' view of the workplace and their mental state. A leader can talk openly about the benefits of creating positive news within their teams because many positive things happen each day.
TIPS FOR PROMOTING POSITIVE NEWS:
• Create a positive news channel — Set the expectation that it's everyone's role to report positive news. As the leader, fill the role of champion and seek positive news daily.
• Define moments that matter — Ask your team to share examples of positive moments that matter. Like when a peer jumped in to help at a critical time yesterday, receiving positive feedback from a customer last week, meeting the performance target last month and the milestones achieved last year. Pick the top two for each time frame and add more once the news channel is up and running.
• Encourage spreading positive news — Work with your team to send out a short note with some positive news that employees can think about as they leave for the day.
• Follow up on the quality of news — Take a moment each week in a team meeting to evaluate the quality and effort in spreading positive news. It may take a few months to overcome some employees' beliefs that this is just another flavour of the month. Trust that with intention, passion and followthrough, positive news will start to take a bigger share of employees' minds.