Sometimes we get so caught up in the planning and execution of a particular business objective we forget to savor the results. You know what I mean? We spend all our energy creating task lists, assigning duties, holding planning meetings, gathering collaterals and monitoring the progress leading up to the actual event, program or launch. After it’s done we collapse, maybe take a day off, and then start all over again on the next Big Thing.  

Tony Robbins says when we succeed, we party, and when we fail, we ponder. If it went well, we pat a few backs including our own. We might even pop the cork on a bottle of the bubbly. If it didn’t go well, hoooweee! Fingers start pointing, folks run for cover and the blame gets passed like a red hot potato.    

Frankly, in neither scenario is anyone left feeling particularly great. In the former, any sense of satisfaction passes all too quickly, to be replaced by the old ennui and an unquenchable longing for something more. In the latter, fear and frustration bloom like poison mushrooms, lurking in the dark corners of the business, slowly infecting the entire operation.

What about if, next time, you try something different? How about taking time to party and ponder more deeply and productively?   

Let’s take scenario #1, where that special event, new product, marketing initiative, or new business has launched without a hitch. All the long hours and hard work paid off in spectacular fashion. You and your team have something to be really proud of, so don’t wait ‘til the afterglow wears off. The very next day, call your team together to “chew the bones” of the project. Success leaves clues. After every event I work on, I ask my team to give me their highlights. What worked, and why? What was a surprising, exciting or enlightening moment? Who do we need to thank and how? And remember, the classier the thank you, the better.   

Then I do two processes with the group to help us expand on our inner and outer knowing. Here are the steps:
1. I go around to each person and ask the rest of the team to state, one at a time, something they saw that person do that was helpful, thoughtful, or memorable. It could be something public, or something no one else would have noticed but that made a difference nonetheless.  

2. The person being spoken to makes eye contact with each speaker and simply says “thank you” in reply. No qualifications, excuses or deflections. They just shut up and take it.

Here’s why this is so powerful. As employers, it is vital to remember that people come to work with us for many reasons. Sure they expect to get paid, but surprisingly, the benjamins, the cheddar, the cheese, the cash are not top ‘o the list. No, people work to express themselves, to exercise leadership and to be responsible for something. They come to be part of something greater than they could be or do alone. And for all that they long to be appreciated and recognized. Folks need a real shout out from you, and more than once a year. After all, they could be working somewhere else!     

3. Step #2 involves going around the group again, this time asking everyone to state one thing they themselves did in the project of which they are personally proud.  Now’s the time for them to pop their own collars, stand in their own light and be witnessed in the telling.


                     Courtesy of Candlefind.com

There are so many censorious societal messages about bragging. So many haters are just waiting to tell you that you ain’t all that. But taking our candle from under the proverbial bushel basket is our gift to our own growth.  It is healthy, nourishing and self-affirming. When all those little flames are raised on high, the blaze can be seen for miles. And who wouldn’t want folks working in their business that are on fire?

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