A different sort of festive

LIFT your eyes above the horizon and what do you see? Don't be cynical and say "haze" or "smog". I'm talking about "above the horizon", not straight at it. Don't say "battles for supremacy of wealth, health or stealth". There are always plenty of those and they won't disappear just because you reach 20 or 90.

What you see is a bright, shining light. One that makes you realise everything is getting better. One that when you shut your eyes for the last time, you are happy to leave to those who come after you. When you can do this, you have reached your paradise.

Look for the rainbow

Bit of a myth right now though, isn't it? Pandemic, climate disintegrating, even worse bugs to come, ruthless military encroachments by the stronger on the weaker - and who, any longer, knows which is which?

Supply shortages, inflation, countries going bust, the complexity of just living, vaccine passports, all worrying, irritating and confusing. Autocrats spring up everywhere seemingly admired - or needed - by the people. Relatively weak response from democracy as though free speech had no value and liberty, no meaning. Small wonder so many slump down in front of the "Nutflux" at the end of the day, just longing for a few minutes escape from reality. Little surprise that the antidote is violence, sex and an incomprehensible language made up almost entirely of four-letter words.

Enough. You don't think like that, I know. When you see clouds, you see life-giving rain. When you see lightning, you see power - everlasting, easily accessed energy. When you see wild life, you recognise all that David Attenborough and millions of others have lived and worked for. When you see a rainbow, you know that however beautiful other things are, none compares with these streamers of colour stretched across the horizon, shining like a torch from above the clouds. Love in a circuit.

Finding your freedom

What has this got to do with Christmas or the festive season? Everything. You've been hard done by, but not nearly as hard done by as so many others. You're fed up with lockdown, lock up and lock in. But not nearly as fed up as those who had tiny spaces, lousy food, lack of chatter, absence of love.

Freedom is something we long for when it disappears. I have a young friend who was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness some years ago. She has battled and won against this most pernicious of diseases. She knows what freedom is. She learnt the hard way.

Mostly, we forget freedom while we've got it. The pandemic has been a fairly nasty loss of it. What would a total loss mean? It would mean feeling exactly the same as many of the people who currently work with us. Lost purpose, inadequate direction, little help with the vicissitudes of life, uncertainty about confidence. It would mean hardship, pain, separation, isolation, real and severe fear of justice. Those who value freedom had better get together and prepare to work for it, otherwise it will disappear.

The season of giving: Give time for your employees

The season of giving is a perfect opportunity to play a major role if you are a boss of many or few people. All the things missing in the litany above amount to another four-letter word - care. You cannot solve all the problems of those you employ. Mother Teresa got it right when she said the words "I help those in my arms".

So who should be in your arms at this time of year? All those who work with and for you. They need to know that you care for them and they need to know it now, not some time in the future. And how do you show it? Giving, of course, but not just money, not simply presents. Good to give these things when they are needed and when you can afford them. Good to give them as an example of your intentions.

The real care that people want is your time to be with them, to chat to them, to help them physically when they need it, and most of all to help them emotionally when they are trapped in an emotional cage. That means sharing their mental bars and screens, helping them to see the daylight in their darkened room, touching their hands and giving them a hug even when they are not used to your doing so. It means listening with genuine interest. All a bit touchy-feely for you? Get over it. This is not your party, it is theirs.

Make a difference

You may think I am talking about the obviously distressed, the sick, the disabled, the poor, the old. Of course I am. But more than that I'm talking about the people who work with you day by day. Those who have borne the brunt of this pitiless pandemic. Those who have been locked indoors for nearly two years. Many of them have had their morale seriously sapped. Some are now fragile beyond what we see on the surface. Some are seriously beginning to wonder why they were born. How are you to cope with emotions like that? How can you make a difference in their lives when there are so many needing it?

Not by being soft and weak, that's for sure. Your colleagues may not be battling with armaments. They are, hopefully, not going to hit or kill others except in self defence, however strong their feelings are. But they are going to have another tough year. They need a leader who shows them that he is working for them more than for himself or herself. They want to see the real spirit of leadership - giving yourself totally for others. They need a boss who leads from the front, takes responsibility for what happens, does some strategic thinking and involves them as far as possible in it. They want to see the brave, not the proud.

Pay attention to your people. Wish them, as I wish you, A Very Happy Christmas or Festive Season, whichever it means to you.

You aren't going to need your people "soon". You need them now.

• The writer is founder and chair at Terrific Mentors International