September is often described as a return to routine.
Summer vacations end. Children return to school. Sports and activities begin again. Meetings return to the calendar, projects regain momentum, and workplaces expect everyone to settle back in.
Returning to routine does not necessarily mean returning to balance.
For many people, September means trying to fit even more into an already full life.
Parents are coordinating school schedules, lunches, transportation, homework, appointments, and children’s activities while continuing to meet the expectations of their jobs. Other employees may be caring for aging parents, supporting someone with health concerns, dealing with financial pressure, or navigating changes in their personal lives that no one at work knows about.
Employees returning from vacation may find overflowing inboxes and work that continued to accumulate while they were away. At the same time, leaders may be setting new goals and expecting renewed energy from their teams.
Everyone may be back, but that does not mean everyone has unlimited capacity.
This makes September an important time for leaders to do more than restart the routine.
It is an opportunity to look honestly at what is working, address what is not, establish priorities, and listen to the people doing the work.
Sometimes a team needs more than a return to routine.
Sometimes it needs a reset.
A Team Reset
During my RCMP career, I was transferred to a detachment as the Operational NCO.
I had been there for just over a month. I was replacing a male officer and was the only woman holding rank across the four detachments in the district.
It did not take long to realize that things were not running smoothly.
Files were overdue. Required information was not reaching court administration in time to prepare matters for court. Some members were carrying more than their fair share of the calls for service, while others were not completing the work expected of them.
The members doing the extra work were becoming increasingly frustrated, and they were vocal about it.
There was another issue I could not ignore.
When I addressed the unfinished work and reminded certain members of their responsibilities, my authority was questioned behind my back. I was not referred to as Sergeant Ward or their Operational NCO. Instead, I heard comments such as, “Who does she think she is?”
I knew I needed to make it clear that the expectations were not optional and that the disrespect had to stop.
I had already spoken individually with the members who were not completing their work, but those conversations had not led to meaningful change.
We did not need another email or more private reminders.
We needed to come together as a team.
I scheduled a meeting on a Sunday afternoon and paid overtime to the members who were not scheduled to work. Everyone needed to hear the same message and participate in the same conversation.
To put it plainly, it was time for what I call a Come to Jesus meeting.
I opened with:
“My name is Tammy Ward. You can address me as Sergeant Ward or as your Operational NCO. I am not ‘that girl,’ and ‘Who does she think she is?’ is no longer an acceptable response when I ask you to do your job.”
That got everyone’s attention.
I addressed the overdue files, court deadlines, volume of calls for service, unequal distribution of work, punctuality, preparedness, and the professional standards expected of every member.
I did not want the meeting to become a lecture.
Once I had clearly established the expectations and identified the behaviours that needed to change, we went around the table. I told everyone this was their opportunity to speak honestly about what was not working and what they wanted to see change. The conversation had to remain respectful and focused on moving forward.
Some difficult things were said.
The members who were not contributing fairly heard directly how their actions were affecting their colleagues. The members who had been quietly carrying more of the workload finally had an opportunity to be heard.
By the time we left, the issues were out in the open. The expectations were clear, and everyone understood their responsibility to the team.
The meeting worked because it included both accountability and conversation.
I addressed the unacceptable behaviour before asking for feedback, while still making space for the team to explain what was not working and what needed to change.
Sometimes a leader must reset the standard before the team can reset its routine.
Clarity Is a Leadership Responsibility
September is a natural time for leaders to hold this kind of conversation, although hopefully without needing a Come to Jesus meeting.
Projects resume. Deadlines compete for attention. New work is introduced before old responsibilities have been reviewed. Everyone is busy, but no one has clearly established what should come first.
When everything is treated as urgent, people are not being given clear priorities.
They are being given more pressure.
A purposeful team meeting gives everyone an opportunity to step back and ask:
What needs our immediate attention?
What can wait?
What are we doing that no longer serves a purpose?
What barriers are getting in our way?
Who is carrying more than their fair share?
What ideas do the people doing the work have?
Leaders then need to listen to the answers without ego.
The people doing the work often see challenges, inefficiencies, and possible solutions that are not visible from a management office. Asking for their feedback is not giving up authority. It is recognizing and using the knowledge that already exists within the team.
It helps reduce some of the hierarchy attached to positions and creates a space where every person can be seen and heard as an important part of the team, regardless of title or rank.
People are more likely to support a plan when they have helped shape it.
If the team is facing a large project, break it into manageable parts and discuss how responsibilities should be shared.
Roles should not automatically be assigned based only on job title or seniority.
Ask:
“Who has the right skills for this?”
“Who has experience we may not know about?”
“Who is interested in taking this on?”
“Where could someone grow with the right support?”
The person with the most senior position may not always be the best person to lead every part of a project. Someone else may have stronger organizational skills, technical knowledge, creativity, or a natural ability to bring people together.
Leadership is not about having all the answers or making every decision alone.
Great leaders bring together the right people, listen to the knowledge in the room, and create a plan the team can believe in.
Know Your People Well Enough to Notice
Clear expectations matter. Fairly distributed workloads matter. Accountability matters.
Great leaders must also know their people well enough to recognize when something has changed.
You cannot recognize a change in someone you have never taken the time to know or understand. If you have never paid attention to how they normally show up, you may not notice when they begin showing up differently.
Knowing your people does not mean knowing every detail of their personal lives. It means building relationships, paying attention, and understanding what is normal for each person.
During my 24 years in the RCMP, I learned that people do not leave everything happening in their lives at the door when they come to work.
When you know your team, you notice when the person who normally joins everyone for coffee begins eating alone at their desk.
You notice when someone who is usually talkative becomes quiet.
You notice when an engaged employee stops contributing during meetings.
You notice when someone begins working through every break, becomes more easily frustrated, or appears exhausted.
These changes do not automatically mean something is seriously wrong, but they should make you pause and pay attention.
This is where you need to have a conversation.
Not an accusation.
Not an immediate performance warning.
And definitely not a conversation in front of everyone else.
A private and respectful conversation can begin with an observation:
“I’ve noticed you haven’t been joining us for coffee lately, and you seem quieter than usual. How are you doing?”
The first answer may be the one many of us have learned to give automatically.
“I’m fine.”
People can arrive on time, complete their work, smile, and say they are fine, but that does not necessarily mean they are okay.
Perhaps the employee has recently become a single parent.
Perhaps someone in their family is dealing with a serious health issue.
Maybe they are caring for an aging parent, navigating a separation, struggling financially, or managing responsibilities no one at work knows about.
A leader should not interrogate an employee, make assumptions, or expect them to disclose personal information. Employees are entitled to privacy, and support should not depend on sharing details about their personal lives.
A great leader creates space for an honest conversation about what the employee needs at work without requiring them to share everything happening outside it.
Understanding that something has changed may help the leader clarify priorities, explore available support, adjust a deadline, redistribute part of the workload, or simply let the employee know they do not have to pretend everything is fine.
Accountability and Understanding Can Exist Together
Strong leadership does not mean removing every expectation whenever someone is struggling.
Standards still matter.
Deadlines still matter.
Every person has a responsibility to contribute fairly to the team.
My detachment meeting was necessary because some members were not meeting their responsibilities, and their behaviour was affecting the rest of the team. At the same time, accountability should not prevent leaders from considering what may be beneath a change in someone’s behaviour or performance.
Sometimes an employee needs clearer expectations.
Sometimes they need additional training.
Sometimes they need to understand how their actions are affecting the rest of the team.
Sometimes they are carrying something in their personal life that has temporarily changed what they can manage.
A great leader is willing to have the conversation necessary to understand the difference.
Leadership is not choosing between accountability and compassion.
It is knowing what the people and the situation require.
A Better Return to Routine
Balance is not something we achieve once and keep forever.
It is something we continually adjust as our lives, responsibilities, and circumstances change.
Strong leaders cannot remove every demand their employees carry. They cannot solve every personal problem or make every difficult season disappear.
They can, however, take practical steps to make the return to routine healthier and more productive:
- Reset expectations. Make sure everyone understands the standards, responsibilities, and behaviours required of the team.
- Establish real priorities. Identify what needs immediate attention, what can wait, and what no longer needs to be done.
- Review the distribution of work. Pay attention to who is carrying more than their fair share and who may not be contributing fully.
- Listen to the people doing the work. Ask about barriers, invite ideas, and use the skills and experience that already exist within the team.
- Know your people. Build relationships before a problem arises so you can recognize meaningful changes in behaviour, participation, or energy.
- Start private conversations early. Share what you have noticed, listen without assumptions, respect the employee’s privacy, and discuss what support may be helpful at work.
- Balance accountability with understanding. Determine whether the person needs clearer expectations, additional support, or a combination of both.
As we return to our routines this September, perhaps the most important leadership question is not simply:
“What do we need to accomplish?”
Perhaps we need to ask:
“What matters most?”
“What can wait?”
“What is no longer working?”
“Who is carrying more than their fair share?”
“What do our people need in order to do their best work?”
Then we need to be prepared to listen and act on what we hear.
A team cannot move forward when the hardest conversations are happening in the hallway instead of around the table.
Workplace culture is built one conversation at a time.
Brave Conversations Start Here.™
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