Six Tips for an Effective Leadership this Holiday Season

The holiday season is here! Along with the joys and carols it brings, it also brings with it an influx of clients to your business – which is actually a good problem to solve.

This period of high demands can test the way you handle your business and your people. We can all agree that holiday leadership takes everyone on a different level of both stress and success. Specifically, you have strike a balance between the demand of the season and the capacity of your employees.

This holiday season, we bring you some leadership tips to up your leadership skills in order to achieve both your business goals and your employees’ satisfaction.

1.    Don’t spread your employees too thin.

It’s a given that the holiday season will be a busy season. Therefore, the demand of the work can be too overwhelming for your regular employees.

Too much workload can burn them out or can cause them to get sick leading to a bigger problem during the holiday season.

A good leader would know how to address the situation by hiring additional employees. This will help even out the workload so everyone can still perform at their best.

This will also show your employees that you understand their concerns and you are doing something about it.

2.    Plan days off ahead of time.

Since it is the holiday season, your employees will have to do some extra things as well. It would be better to gather them up and talk about scheduling three months before the holiday season.

This will give them time to plot their schedule and set their expectation as to which dates they can have their time off.

3.    Don’t turn into the Grinch.
The last thing your employees will need is someone who will add pressure to the bottleneck pressure they are already having. One of the traits of a good leader is the ability to keep grace under pressure.

It will bring a negative impact to employees if you make things more cumbersome for them. They have too much load for the season and on top of that, a leader who adds to their burden.

The key to successful leadership is being able to make your employees feel that you are with them in times when everyone is cracking in pressure.  

4.    Always have a positive approach.

It is crucial to have a positive approach towards employees. Praise them for their accomplishments and make them feel that you appreciate their efforts.

Also, in case they commit mistakes, the more positive approach is to coach them instead of nagging at them. Tell them what they did wrong and suggestions on ways they can improve. This kind of attitude is positive and very nurturing.

One of the common mistakes committed by managers is that they would focus on one error over the hundreds of good things the employee has done.

DO NOT be that kind of leader.

5.    Lead by example.

While it is true that your employees are not the only ones experiencing too much pressure because of the holidays, it doesn’t give you an excuse to slack off.

A good leader would set an excellent example to his/her employees. This is your chance to gain their respect. Once you show them how you can stay professional and ethical despite the pressure around, they will look up to you and emulate your example.

6.    Don’t forget the bonuses.

Needless to say, this is very important for an employee during the holiday season. They too have extra things to buy and spend money on.

Make your employees happy this holiday season by giving them the bonus that they deserve. Employees know how the business ran the whole year, so they have their own expectation on how much they deserve to get.

Therefore, it would pay to give them their fair share of the bargain. They’ve worked hard all year long, so they should get what they deserve.

Pressure and stress brought about by the holidays should bring out the best in you and not the worst in you.

There can be times that we would crack up in pressure, but throughout the years, we all will be good leaders. We just have to open for any improvements, learn from our mistakes and maintain our best practices.