Everyone loves a surprise when it’s a good surprise. We love surprise promotions, parties, gifts, bonuses, and notes of encouragement. Those are great surprises. The kind of surprises we don’t enjoy are when things break, our plans get altered, or when we face a difficult loss. When leading an organization I think it is best to limit the surprise factor. If you hold too many good things to yourself in an effort to surprise your team you are probably keeping too many people in the dark. If you constantly surprise your team with difficult information you are probably avoiding conflict and trying to do too much on your own.
- Never surprise your supervisor // KEEP YOUR SUPERVISOR IN THE LOOP…I have never met a leader who likes to be blindsided by good or bad news. If you want to build trust with your supervisor keep them in the loop and leave the surprises for birthday parties.
- Limit surprises for your volunteers // work hard to keep your team in the loop and for sure keep your key leaders in the loop. When you keep leaders involved in direction of your organization you let them know you trust them. You can’t put everything on the table all the time but work hard to not surprise your team with directional change.
- Always keep surprise alive in your environment // ok, surprise isn’t all bad in fact it is great when it comes to environment planning. Save your surprises for the teens and kids in your environment. Mix it up and have fun!
