5 Mornings to go - Stay Close
Good morning. I'm Christiaan Page, and welcome to 30 winter mornings. This is a short daily podcast for professionals delivering complex live events. And over the next 30 mornings, we'll be counting down to the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Games. Each morning, we take a few minutes to slow things down, to find perspective, reassurance, and calm during the most demanding phase of the delivery.
Christiaan PAGE:This isn't training. It's not motivational. It's a daily check-in, a moment of company before your day begins. Five mornings to go. As the finish draws closer, pressure doesn't just affect the plans, the pressure of the compression.
Christiaan PAGE:It really affects people. Energy starts to dip because we've been working constantly. You think of the buildup. We're in five days to go after years of planning and and test events and everything else that's happened. Our energy is somewhat depleted.
Christiaan PAGE:We're running on running on fumes, and that also then causes tempers to shorten. We know that when we're at our capacity and our limp at limits, the bandwidth reduces. So our reaction times certainly increase. And this is when the small things really feel heavier than they should, and that gets into the reaction. So at this point, leadership becomes less about decisions and more about proximity, about being close with your team.
Christiaan PAGE:It's not about surveillance. It's not about checking and making sure that people are working because they're tired, and it's not about control. It's like, okay. Good. Making sure you're still turning up.
Christiaan PAGE:Not that at all because we know our teams are here. They care. They want to do a great job. So the opportunity is to just be nearby, to be present. And there's a quiet truth often seen in emergency response teams, and they say experienced leaders stay physically close during those most intense moments.
Christiaan PAGE:Again, not to intervene, but just to reassure. And their presence says, you're not on your own. I'm here. I've got your back. And in complex event delivery, staying close works exactly the same.
Christiaan PAGE:You don't need long conversations. You don't need to stand up and give big speeches to bring the team together. You just need to be seen, and that can be in simple ways. Think of we've talked about this in earlier in earlier pods. It can be a brief check-in.
Christiaan PAGE:Hey. How are you doing? Are you okay? Meeting them at the front gate and walking them to their to their workspace. Could be something as simple as just a calm nod.
Christiaan PAGE:Hey. Yeah. I'm with you from a distance. At moment, that just says, I'm here. So before the day asks more of you, let's pause for our check-in.
Christiaan PAGE:So thinking of your team, who might need a little more proximity today of your proximity? And if it's yourself, where do you need to look after yourself? How do you turn up for you? And it's could be that this person, not because they're struggling, not because they're not performing, but just because they're carrying a lot. And I don't mean in their arms.
Christiaan PAGE:They might be carrying a lot of decisions and things and managing stakeholders and teams might be arriving. We don't know, but they might be carrying a lot. So really just narrow it down. Choose one person today in your team. Number two, where can you be visible without interrupting?
Christiaan PAGE:And this can be just joining your team on a walk through. They might be doing a walk through of the venue, inspecting the various elements that they are responsible for. So join them. Could be just a shared coffee. You see one of your colleagues sitting and having a coffee, maybe appropriate just to go and sit and have a coffee with them.
Christiaan PAGE:Those few minutes. And it could also be the few minutes just out on the field of play or back of house, wherever it is. You can spend those few minutes with your team by being being having proximity with them because your presence really matters. It really, really important to be present. Okay.
Christiaan PAGE:Third one, what tone are you carrying into the day? And by tone, what do I mean? I mean, when you think about it, are you carrying calm? Because calm is contagious. If you're calm, everybody, especially in a leadership role or your personal leadership, you're calm and just within yourself.
Christiaan PAGE:Think of that calm. Because equally, so is tension. Tension can be contagious too. If you arrive tense and anxious and worked up, that does cascade into your team and to the people you're leading. So I'd encourage you to choose carefully.
Christiaan PAGE:Can calm or what are you carrying? What is your tone that you're carrying in today? So we're late in delivery, and people remember how it felt to work together. So stay close, and wherever you are, stay safe, stay healthy, and bye for now. 30 Winter Mornings is a legacy groupe project produced and presented by myself, Christiaan Page.
Christiaan PAGE:This podcast is recorded on the shores of Lac Leman , also known as Lake Geneva, in Lausanne, the Olympic capital, in the Canton Of Vaud, Switzerland.
