A Leadership Primer On Celebrations 0
In talking with leaders over the years, I`ve noticed that most seem to struggle with celebrations.
Some struggle with when to celebrate. Some struggle with why they should. And some don`t have a struggle because they don`t celebrate at all. (Here the struggle is for those they lead!)
Unlike many other leadership topics, there doesn`t seem to be much of a consensus on the topic. People range from one end of the spectrum to the other – from we don`t need a reason to celebrate to we don`t have time to celebrate.
This article is meant to address some of the questions and challenges, and perhaps provide some balance to the discussion.
Why We Should Celebrate
Celebrations in general (forget about the workplace for a minute) typically are organized to recognize, reward, rejuvenate, relax and/or to have some real fun. Because we are human beings at work, we need to remember that all of these reasons have validity on the job too.
You`ve heard the old axiom that says people spend more time at work than they do with their families? Guess what, unless you work with your family, it`s true.
So, if celebration is at some level a human need, why wouldn`t we incorporate that into work?
Too new-agey or humanistic for you? Let me be more bottom-line for you:
Properly done, celebrations will improve morale, improve productivity, reduce stress, reduce turnover and improve Customer Service.
If you are in the “we don`t need to celebrate” camp, any one of these should be reason enough to reconsider. Taking them all together should make it an easy call.
Why We Don`t Celebrate
I hear many reasons for not celebrating on the job. Here`s a partial list:
We haven`t succeeded yet.
We haven`t reached the goal yet.
The project isn`t finished yet.
Nothing happened
I expected we`d make that target.
We don`t have time.
We don`t have the resources.
No one wants to