Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
Speaker 1: fella Aledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to this seven minute leadership podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode five sixty three. If you were listening to
Speaker 2: this on Christmas Day, thank you. That alone tells me
Speaker 2: something about you. You are the kind of leader who
Speaker 2: understands that leadership does not take holidays. Even when the
Speaker 2: world slows down, Christmas has a way of pulling us backward.
Speaker 2: It brings memories, smells, songs, moments that remind us who
Speaker 2: we were before, titles before pressure, before responsibility showed up
Speaker 2: in full force. That nostalgia matters. Leaders who forget where
Speaker 2: they came from lose their grounding. But Christmas is also
Speaker 2: a test, not a loud test, a quiet one. This
Speaker 2: is the season where efforts dip a little, focus drifts,
Speaker 2: standards soften, and excuses sound more reasonable than usual. People
Speaker 2: are distracted, schedules or lighter offices or quieter crews are thinner,
Speaker 2: and still the work matters. Here's the leadership truth most
Speaker 2: people miss at Christmas. How you lead when things are
Speaker 2: quiet tells everyone who you really are. You don't need
Speaker 2: to be intense, you don't need to be rigid, You
Speaker 2: don't need to crush the holiday spirit. But you do
Speaker 2: need to stay present. Leadership during Christmas is about quiet consistency.
Speaker 2: Think about the leaders you respected growing up, the coaches,
Speaker 2: the teachers, supervisors, parents, who all made you feel steady.
Speaker 2: They did not disappear when things slowed down. They stayed available,
Speaker 2: they stayed fair, They stayed human. This is not the
Speaker 2: season for big speeches or sweeping change. This is the
Speaker 2: season for small signals. Showing up on time when nobody
Speaker 2: would notice if you didn't, keeping standards steady without making
Speaker 2: a production out of it, checking in with someone who
Speaker 2: looks tired without turning it into a performance, saying thank
Speaker 2: you and meaning it. In emergency services, holidays sharpen this lesson.
Speaker 2: The calls still come, the weather still turns bad, The
Speaker 2: stakes don't care what day it is. The leaders who
Speaker 2: earn trust are the ones who hold the line calmly,
Speaker 2: without drama. In business, it's no different. Clients still need answers,
Speaker 2: Teams still watch your behavior. Culture does not pause for Christmas.
Speaker 2: This is where my red Key leader methodology shows up quietly,
Speaker 2: not in crisis, but in awareness, recognizing that moments still
Speaker 2: matter even when the room feels relaxed. Christmas leadership is
Speaker 2: not about pushing harder. It's about not slipping. And here's
Speaker 2: another layer that matters deeply right now. Many people listening
Speaker 2: to this are carrying more than they let on. This
Speaker 2: time of year magnifies everything. Loss, stress, family strain, financial pressure,
Speaker 2: and exhaustion. Some people dread the holidays while smiling through them.
Speaker 2: Leaders who only see output miss the human side of December.
Speaker 2: You don't need to fix anyone. You don't need to
Speaker 2: play therapist. What you can do is create a space
Speaker 2: that feels safe, steady, and respectful. That's leadership at its
Speaker 2: most practical level. A calm tone, clear expressions, no unnecessary pressure,
Speaker 2: no sarcasm, no public frustration. That steadiness becomes a gift
Speaker 2: your team carries into the new year. Christmas is also
Speaker 2: a moment to reflect privately as a leader. Ask yourself this,
Speaker 2: without judgment. Did I show up the way I said
Speaker 2: I would this year? Did my team feel protected or exposed?
Speaker 2: Did I tolerate things I knew were wrong? Did I
Speaker 2: grow even when it was uncomfortable. You don't need answers today.
Speaker 2: Awareness is enough. Seven minutes of honest reflection beats hours
Speaker 2: of vague intention. I often say leadership is built in moments,
Speaker 2: not milestones. Christmas is one of those moments, quiet, emotional revealing.
Speaker 2: How you handle today tells you a lot about the
Speaker 2: leader that you're becoming. And as this year closes, remember this.
Speaker 2: People will forget your goals, they will forget you your plans.
Speaker 2: They will remember how it felt to work with you
Speaker 2: when things slowed down in the mask came off a little.
Speaker 2: That is leadership legacy at work. So if today is Christmas,
Speaker 2: wherever you are in the world, I hope you find
Speaker 2: a moment of peace, and I hope you feel proud
Speaker 2: of the ground that you've covered this year. And I
Speaker 2: hope you remember that leadership does not require perfection, It
Speaker 2: requires presence. Thank you for giving a few few moments
Speaker 2: of your holiday to this space. It means more to
Speaker 2: me than you will ever know. This has been the
Speaker 2: seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit Paulfellowalito dot com.