Do you want to be the best possible leader you can be? How about earning a reputation for being the coolest boss ever? Maybe those things are not your motivation but I am sure you want to ensure good morale around the office. Good morale leads to productivity and longer tenure among employees and volunteers. But it does not happen by accident. Here are five “days” you can offer your team that will help you earn the title of “best boss ever”.

A Day Off. With an Allowance. The most obvious way to get on an employees good side is to offer periodic days off that do not count against their personal days. Add an extra blessing to it by giving each team member a monetary gift or gift card and tell them they are required to spend it on their day off!
Benefit: Allows the team member to separate from the work environment, get rested, and feel appreciated.

A Day In Their Shoes. Switch roles with a team member and do their job for a day. Let him be the boss for the day while you tackle all those tasks you gave to him the day before. Be careful, you may discover you don’t know what his job entails or you have put far too much work on his back.
Benefit: Allows you to empathize with the person, connect with that level of leadership, and evaluate your own leadership impact.

A Day to Dream. Imagine designating a day and time when team members are able to meet with someone you bring in who can help them set their own personal dreams and goals. This is the concept of Matthew Kelly’s book, “The Dream Manager”. Investing time and possibly resources into an employee’s dream shows the organization genuinely cares.
Benefit: When an employee believes you care about her, she will show how much she cares about the organization by working harder and with more joy.

A Day to Play. Load up the team and go for a day of fun and activities. Try activities that no one has done before so that new experiences and new memories are created. Take it a step further and initiate a fine anytime someone mentions work or uses their phone. Use that extra money as a donation to charity or for the next play day.
Benefit: Builds camaraderie among the team, allows people to see each other in a different light, teaches people to separate from the work place.

A Day of Vulnerability. Employees bring a myriad of stress into the workplace. Show concern for the by bring in counselors or pastors (who are not connected to your organization) on a day that employees are allowed to simply vent. Only the team member and the counselor know what is discussed but allow the counselors to be present the entire day and offer referrals as needed. Make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand!
Benefit: It allows people to talk, share and feel better about themselves. It shows a level of care that will be remembered.

Implement these in your office and I’m pretty certain your team will think you are the best boss ever!

God bless,

Pastor Anthony C. Cobbs