As a big Philadelphia Eagles fan, I wish I could say this season has been full of exciting wins. Unfortunately, it's been a rough one!
But watching my team struggle has reminded me of an important leadership lesson: Every team goes through difficult seasons.
Whether you're navigating change, missing goals, or simply facing a tough stretch, how you show up as a leader matters.
In this week's Two-Minute Tip, I'm sharing three practical ways to help your team navigate challenges, build momentum, and keep moving forward.
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This week's Two-Minute Tip is inspired by my Philadelphia Eagles.
Now, I wish that was exciting, positive inspiration, but unfortunately, it's been a rough season for us.
And here's the deal. No matter how great your team is on the football field or in the workplace, you are going to walk through difficult seasons.
Maybe you're leading your team through significant change. Maybe you're missing goals.
Maybe you're short-staffed and you're really feeling it.
So how do you lead your team when things aren't going so well?
There are three specific ideas I want to share with you today.
First, acknowledge reality. The last thing your team needs is to pretend like everything is fine. One of the most important things you can do as a leader is to demonstrate genuine empathy for what they're experiencing, what they're walking through.
But don't just stay there. Second, you need to focus on the next win, not the end finish line that you hope to get to in a year, but what's the next win that they can pursue? Unfortunately, my Eagles probably aren't focused on winning the Super Bowl, but they should be focused on the next practice, the next game,
the next play. And the same is true for your team.
Focus on what's within your control. What's the thing we can accomplish today? What's the goal for this week? And make sure you celebrate those small wins along the way.
And then lastly, number three, you as the leader need to be intentional about the energy you bring to the team, the vibe you bring to the team.
Your attitude is contagious.
And your team is looking to you to see how they should be feeling about work right now.
Now, please don't show up artificially cheerful or pretend like you're not frustrated,
but be mindful of the attitude that you're bringing to the team, because again, they are going to feed off of that.
Here's the bottom line. You can't always control the season that your team is in.
But you can control how you lead through it.
You want to be able to look back on this season and feel really proud of how you showed up in it, how you led the team through it. And that's my hope for my Eagles right now, that they can look back on this season, not necessarily love the way it went, but feel proud of how they persevered through it.