5 Perfect Gifts For Your Team
Still looking for the right gifts for your GovCon team or your colleagues?Help is here.
All of us in GovCon — solo-preneurs, business owners, contractors — rely on a mix of trusted advisors, partners, employees, and contractors all year long. Our success depends on attracting the best people into our ecosystem, and nurturing our relationships with them. You already know you want to give them something. At this time of year, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and maybe even a little anxious about what to give
In this post, I’ll tell you why that anxious feeling is normal (and even a good thing), give you 5 ideas for gifts, and 3 tips for how to choose.
Why Are Gifts So Important?
Throughout history, in all cultures, the gifts we give are more than tokens. They are powerful symbols. They’re expressions of appreciation, intention, connection, and gratitude.
This is the front cover art for the book The Gift of the Magi written by O. Henry. The book cover art copyright is believed to belong to the publisher or the cover artist, P. J. Lynch.
We get emotionally invested in choosing gifts — even ones for business — because they reflect the intimacy of the relationship, we have with the person we give to. As a recipient, you know how amazing it feels when someone gives you something that you didn’t even realize you’d been longing for.
My inner perfectionist always wants to give the gift that will delight each person who opens it with stars in their eyes as they say, “How did you know?!”
(No pressure, eh?) Feel familiar? Relax. I’m going to share five of my favourite resources — some for general business, some specific to govcon — and tell you why I like them and why you and your team might, too.
5 Go-To Gifts For GovCon Colleagues
Here we go:
First, set your intention: is the gift for the person to enjoy solo — something unique to them and their personal or professional interests — or will it be part of a larger training or development team experience you’ll develop during the whole year?
Second, what medium will work best for that person to absorb that content? Spoken or written, audio, video, print, electronic, or a mix? You can even pick a couple! If you’re not sure, ASK them. That not only won’t spoil the gift, but asking the question sets up a little bit of excitement, and lets you get to know them a little better.
Third, trust your intuition. Doing that is one of the most powerful gifts you can give yourself.
1. 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever: Set Goals and Actually Accomplish Them
TYPE: Personal
This gift lets the student invest a few hours to set yourself up for a year of success. That’s what 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever does. In this powerful online workshop Michael Hyatt offers a goal-setting system that more than 30,000 people have used to achieve their biggest goals. I’ve enjoyed this simple, powerful, and efficient way to wrap up my personal year and launch the next one with power and grace. Oh, got Millennials on your team? Research shows that they truly appreciate your investment in their future! Join the waitlist free to find out more when enrollment opens. In past years, this class has been priced under $500.
2. How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth
TYPE: Team tool Patrick Then provides practical tips and tools to help companies execute their plan better and accelerate growth. Every year I have used his techniques has been a year in which I have met or exceeded my own goals! Rhythm is a simple system to empower you and everyone in your company to be focused, aligned, and accountable for your efforts to achieve your goals. Chock full of powerful case studies, it’s a fast, easy read. Thean also offers free templates and guides on his web site.
3. Why They Buy: Predict buying behavior in less than 90 seconds
Type: Personal or team I learned SO much from this book, and I’m just starting to use it. Cheri Tree’s B.A.N.K.® sales methodology is scientifically validated to accurately predict buying behavior in real time. Learn how to notice (and give people) what will attract them most, and avoid approaches that will send them running. Decipher your prospect’s B.A.N.K. codes, you will be far more likely to get the Yes! and close the sale. Try the diagnostic yourself (and imagine how you could even use it to engage your own prospects). Many thanks to my partners Simon Turner & Kris Brinker of Ocean5 Strategies, who told me about this!
4. Building Blocks Of A Winning Proposal
TYPE: Personal or team
This is MY top insider tool for you. Can you simply not afford to lose your next bid? Come and unlock ten proven secrets that professionals have used to win millions in Federal business. In just four hours, you’ll learn how to identify more opportunities you can truly win, know when it’s time to pass, interpret the solicitation to guide your proposal. Be confident you can meet the contract terms and conditions, avoid pitfalls from day one, and align and energize your proposal team throughout the process. This on-demand course includes audio, video, templates, and a special proposal deconstruct example. For for just $997, you’ll get permanent access to this course. “Better than Shipley!” our clients say.
5. Dare To Lead
Type: Personal or team
When you read this, as a business owner, I would bet you’ll want to do the work as a team. For one thing, you’ll see why high-trust organizations are high-performance organizations. But there’s so much more here. I’d read all of Brene Brown’s work on human connection, vulnerability, and courageous leadership, but this one brought it all together for someone who wants to take action and transform results. Her models of how to build trust and relationships are now part of all my client programs. This latest book includes case studies of how global corporations and America’s top military leaders are re-shaping the way they lead. Her web site offers TONS of free resources and worksheets for individuals and teams who are ready to do the work.
Oh, and I almost forgot…
Two more great reads you can grab. Both are Amazon #1 Bestsellers:
- Government Contracts Made Easier (Second Edition) Thousands of companies have followed my seven steps to success in Federal business. Now you can too! $24.97
- Game Changers For Government Contractors A compilation of stories and advice from over 30 of the top national experts in the Federal arena. (My story — never published before — is in Chapter 19!) $18.95
In Closing…How to choose?
A thoughtful gift has tremendous power. Take your time, and make a confident choice that you and the people you care about will always remember. First, Intention: is this a standalone, more personal, gift, or an exciting way to launch your team development? Second, what medium, or media, is right? (not sure? ask!). Third, to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, “Trust your feelings.” You’ve got this.