It’s an annual practice of mine to create a summary report for my key stakeholders, sharing with them some of the more impactful projects and initiatives we’ve worked on over the course of the year and the value they’ve added for our organization. This exercise always causes me to become reflective about the year in general.
This year was a year of great progress and accomplishment for our team. It was also a year of great challenge. Several of the members of my team either experienced the tragedy of having a personal loss in their family or having someone they love develop a serious illness. Nothing gives a person perspective more than loss or illness. I found myself many times this year trying to support and help people through difficult situations with no real answers or clever things to say to them. I’ve come to realize that all you can do in these situations is literally be there for people, be present and let them know you care and value them.
This theme of caring and appreciation is an important one that seems to weave itself into all aspects of our lives both personally and professionally. Those of us who work in IT often find that we receive very little appreciation for the work we do. When things go right, well, that’s what’s supposed to happen! On the rare occasion that things go sideways…this is when we tend to get an earful of people’s opinions and feelings.
In my opinion, the two most important words in the English language are thank you. When was the last time you took the time and effort to thank the people in your professional life? When was the last time you said to someone “I appreciate you, what you do matters to me”? At this time of year when we think about wrapping a bow on the past 12 months and celebrating the holidays with our loved ones, may I suggest we all take a moment to thank the people who have helped us to accomplish our goals and make progress in our organizations.
With that in mind, I’d like to close this year of my blog doing exactly that. I’d like to thank the talented, dedicated, hard-working members of my team for their sacrifices, their contributions and for making me want to work to be a better leader who is worthy of their respect. They are the main reason that I come to work every day. Thank you!
Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season.
