Rules Of Management

RULE 17 - Celebrate

“If people are coming to work excited… if they’re making mistakes freely and fearlessly…if they’re having fun…if they’re concentrating on doing things, rather than preparing reports and going to meetings – then somewhere you have leaders.”

Robert Townsend, Further Up The Organization


I find an excuse every day to reward my staff with a little something – a modest celebration for a result no matter how small, how trivial it seems. If you do the same, you’ll have a motivated staff who have a habit of celebrating every success. And that’s so important.

And the rewards? Tiny. A box of doughnuts. Extra froth on their cappuccinos. A chance to go outside and sit in the sun.

Sometimes I declare today a special day because we just got such and such a result and then I take them out to lunch, let them take time off, let them tell me their worst jokes – never all the same time, mind.

And, occasionally, I declare such a special day even if we fail to win an order. I reward mistakes, screw-ups, failures, accidents. Why? Well, they’ve all slogged their guts out, done their best, given their all, sold their grannies and sweated blood. Why shouldn’t I reward them? Just because we failed doesn’t mean we didn’t strive. I am rewarding the effort. I am celebrating all that we did right – effort, struggle, determination, teamwork, drive and good honest labor.

“Why shouldn’t I reward them? Just because we failed doesn’t mean we didn’t strive.”

Don’t just celebrate the big wins, celebrate all the little ones as well – obviously with smaller celebrations, but celebrations of some sort nevertheless. Hey, any excuse to go and get a coffee. And a bag of doughnuts (or apples if they like). What does that cost you? Very little, but the warm feeling it generates far exceeds any cost.

posted by Right Ranger @ 6:17 PM