There’s never an end to the work that needs to be done — that’s par for the course in the life of an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. But you love it anyway — that’s just how visionaries like you are wired.
But what about your team? What fuels visionaries isn’t always what fuels the people who are executing the vision. When you move quickly from project to project without stopping to acknowledge people’s efforts, you might be unknowingly creating a toxic culture and risking burnout. When you devalue the work you and your team have created, you’ve missed an opportunity to engage them in the bigger picture.
The good news is there’s an easy way to prevent it from happening. It’s as easy as stopping for a brief moment in time, pressing the pause button, and celebrating the team’s work and success. Here are our six lessons from the trenches.
Related Listening: We devoted an entire podcast episode to this. Listen now!
1. One size doesn’t fit all.
If celebrations scare you because the word alone makes you think “expensive!” or “time-consuming!” then fear not. Yes, celebrations can be formal and planned, but they can also be simple. Bringing in donuts for your team after they hit a milestone or worked late all week goes a long way. Big Christmas parties are great, but what your team really wants is for their leader to recognize their wins and their work.
2. Link to your vision.
Celebrations are a way to continually link back to your vision. Every time you have a celebration, it’s a chance to remind your team of the why. When your team is celebrated, they remember why they wanted to work for you in the first place. When they know why they’re showing up to work every day, their work will become better and better.
3. Commit celebrations to the calendar.
When you know you have a milestone coming up, set a celebration in the calendar. Leverage the opportunity to get people excited and motivated to get to the celebration.
4. Find your cruise director.
If you aren’t naturally inclined to think about celebrations, find a person who is. There are people who love looking for opportunities to plan celebrations. Give them full reign over scheduling and sending invites. Also, give them permission to nudge you when they see an opportunity to make the team feel appreciated.
5. Make it memorable.
The more memorable you make a celebration, the more it will benefit your team and their work. Memorable doesn’t mean expensive, but it means finding small ways to elevate the moment. For example, instead of taking the team out to a celebration lunch where you spend the entire time talking about the latest Netflix show, go around the table and specifically praise each individual for some way they’ve impacted the business and team. Free but very memorable.
6. Celebrations set the tone.
In the words of Shane Benson, take what you do seriously, but never take yourself too seriously. You and your team are hard workers, but you’re also humans who need to laugh and have fun together. Big launches and projects are stressful, but celebrations are a time to remember how much you all enjoy working together.
So, celebrate often. It might just be the fuel your team needs to power them into the next successful launch.