When was the last time you gave intentional attention to Mother Earth? Now, you may not be a Greenpeace card-carrying, Tesla driving person, but global attention is where we are mindful about our planet. We must commit our focus to this wonderful, limited resource we all share. Intentional global attention could be as easy as reducing waste, recycling more, driving less, or just lending a hand.
As a leader, you can influence your team to pay attention to global issues by setting the example. There are many ways you can leverage your organization to make things better in your neighborhood, community and the world around.
Start Recycling:
Consider something as simple as putting recycling bins next to the printer. Or, recycling waste in the lunchroom so people could dispose of glass and plastic appropriately.
Community Days:
Some companies are so committed to Mother Earth that they offer paid days off for employees to volunteer or contribute to a cause meaningful to them.
Leadership Retreats:
At your next leadership gathering, have a team building charity based activity. You could make it fun where teams are divided up and compete against each other for the greatest donation to their cause. Or, you could collaborate to help larger organizations such as Habitat for Humanity where you all pitch in to build a home for someone in need.
Sponsor Clean Up:
Sign up and commit to cleaning up a park, street or stretch of road near you. Get your team involved in the beautification project of that area. Allow time for team building events where everyone participates in caring for that area.
Ban Bottles:
I love how many airports are banning plastic water bottles from vendors. Perhaps you could as well. Instead, purchase metal or glass water bottles for your team members and encourage them to use the gift at work. Install water filling stations and create a contest for the team who drinks the most water. It’s a great way to reduce waste and increase the team’s well being.
Donate Locally:
Encourage your team to support and give to a local food bank. Ask people to bring in items for a collection to give to those in need. Another idea would be a contest of coat collections, shoes or clothing. Either way, you can make it fun enough where everyone will want to partake in the fun.
As a leader, there are many things you can lead to really pay attention to the planet and the resources and our community. Companies I’ve worked with like M.A.C. makeup allows people to take used products back into the store and receive a free lipstick. Brita filters incentivize you to return water filters and recycle them. Organizations like Max and Spenser have the opportunity to donate gently used clothing and exchange things. Places like Amazon will send you shipping labels to recycle things by using the box they send it to you in. There are so many organization who have embraced this.
In our book, we wrote a book called, Attention Pays, in the book there is a section on global attention, and how we are paying attention to our planet. What is one little thing you could pay attention to this week that might have a ripple effect across your team? Across your organization? In your community and ultimately on the planet?
You see, I believe that when we pay attention, attention pays. Want more ideas to inspire? Take a look at this video and share it with your team:
Go to Neenjames.com where you can download hundreds of articles for free that you can share with your team or use in your internal publications. Remember when you pay attention, attention pays.
