Two Consultants on Leadership: Performance to be Thankful For

December is upon us and the holidays are a reminder to stop and recognize things we should be thankful for. While we often do this in our personal lives, it’s also important to acknowledge the performance of our direct reports, peers, and upper leadership that help organizations function. Without all the critical daily/weekly behaviors at every level, organizations would likely fail. We should take the time to celebrate the things people do to keep our companies going. For this last Two Consultants on Leadership blog, I have asked Judy to write with me. Judy and I will identify some behaviors and skills we both are thankful for. Judy will focus on behaviors related to direct reports, and I will focus upward: on behaviors I am thankful for from senior leaders. Hopefully this will help you identify some key behaviors you can show gratitude for as we wrap up 2025.

Judy Agnew, Senior Vice President

I recently visited a client site that made me grateful. It was a wonderful year-end reminder of what an excellent culture can look like when the frontline employees are truly engaged. Here is what I observed that motivates me to continue to help organizations engage employees and achieve an outstanding culture.

• Pride in their work. The employees I observed do manual labor. It is noisy, hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and dangerous. They manufacture raw materials. There is no interesting “product” at the end of their workday, and yet they all had pride in what they produced. They took pride in ensuring their products were high quality and on time. They took pride in keeping their work areas clean, and they took pride in keeping the equipment in good condition.
• True teamwork. Despite having different jobs, they all seemed willing to help each other out if need be. If there was a bottleneck or a piece of equipment was down, they all came together to figure out how to work together to still meet customer requirements. They offered positive reinforcement for each other’s support and accomplishments, both large and small.
• Kept each other safe. Everyone, from the newest employee to the most seasoned, was willing to intervene if they saw someone doing something at risk. They all responded well to the feedback when it was directed at them. They encouraged each other to report near misses and celebrated the identification of even the smallest hazards.
• Gave their leaders credit. When I spoke to individual frontline employees about the culture, they gave their leaders credit for setting the tone, creating psychological safety to talk openly about problems, and using lots of feedback and positive reinforcement.
• Celebrated the day. When I walked through the work area and observed the morning meetings, employees smiled and greeted me and each other warmly. They celebrated their accomplishments from the day before and seemed energized to start the day. It was a great reminder that no matter what job you have, it can be pleasant¾if not fun¾if there is enough positive reinforcement in the workplace.

Bryan Shelton, M.S., Senior Consultant

Senior leaders drive organizations by giving them direction, clarifying what winning looks like, and creating the culture. Senior leaders are also responsible for the development of everyone else in the organization. I have identified four behaviors related to developing others that I am truly thankful for.

• Clarity of expectations. Having clear expectations allows for high levels of performance throughout the organization. When expectations are clear, it promotes psychological safety and people’s willingness to be proactive in working towards organizational goals. It also helps with prioritizing work that’s on the to-do list.
• Being generous with their time. Senior leaders are responsible for leading, which includes coaching and mentoring. When senior leaders prioritize the time to provide coaching and mentoring, it shows employees they are important and there is a vested effort in their development. Behavioral science shows us that it’s often easier to improve performance with many small goals. Giving employees their time allows for collaboration and feedback on obtaining them.
• Recognizing effort. While achieving results is the main goal inside organizations, those goals are achieved through effort. When leaders take the time to recognize and positively reinforce behaviors it makes them more likely to occur again in the future and it helps people feel good about their performance. Taking the time to recognize performance is another way leaders show they care.
• Autonomy in decision making. Giving employees the freedom to make decisions is a powerful tool in making people feel valued. Freedom of choice as also been shown to function as a positive reinforcer for many people. By providing employees with autonomy, it shows a level of trust. Leaders are saying, “I have confidence in you that you’ll make a good decision” by giving people the ability to make decisions. It also frees up a leader’s time to focus on other activities. Relationship development and building trust are foundational leadership skills. Allowing autonomy in decision making is a way to build both. 

Final Thoughts

People spend a vast majority of their time at work. It’s important for us to take a step back from time to time and recognize things we are truly thankful for. Doing so can help reframe how we think and feel about working. I am thankful I have colleagues that will take time out of their busy schedules to write this blog with me so that we can encourage, inspire, provide insight, and direction on how to improve leadership tactics and organizations. I truly hope you’ve enjoyed this blog series, and you’ve been able to take something away from it. Please think about what you are thankful for. The return on your investment will be worth it.