How to Celebrate All Along the Results Journey

The Six Pillars of Passionate Leadership provide a solid foundation for purpose-driven non-profit and public sector leaders. 

Leaders who excel in the six pillars are more effective in guiding staff, partners, board members, donors, volunteers, politicians and community members who work to fulfill and support the mission of their organization.   

”Celebrated Results” is Passionate Leadership Pillar #6. 
Passionate leaders who "celebrate results" focus on building in celebrations all along the results journey.  They make sure their team celebrates what went well and what was learned.

In the book I co-authored, Spiral Up: The Surprising Secret to Great Team Results, a team is put together and given a tight budget and timeline to complete a project.  They rally together with the support of a passionate leader (Jack) only to have their project cancelled due to circumstances beyond their control.

Here's a quote from the book as Jack and his mentor, Satya, discuss how to create closure for the team.  Satya says, "When things like this aren't handled well, there's no appreciation and gratitude for all the good work that was done.  Purpose and meaning are replaced with a memory of loss and pain.  The only hope is that it will all be forgotten soon."

Jack replies, "It's up to us to ensure that, despite the outcome, this will be viewed as a positive experience."    

And so, Jack and Satya plan a "victory celebration". 

What was the victory?  The victory was in the effort; in the work they were able to complete; and in the team development process.

The Challenge
Showing gratitude for small progress toward a big goal.
Stopping long enough to talk about what's working.
Acknowledging effort before results.
Learning from setbacks.
Celebrating even when you don't get the desired results.

The Remedy
Encourage regular gratitude expressions.
Of contributions, ideas, time and talent.

Acknowledge what's going well.
Foster conversation on how the tasks, conversation and teamwork support the intended results.

Recognize effort.
Acknowledge those who go above and beyond the expected.

Dial up curiosity when setbacks occur.
Talk about what happened.
What factors contributed to the setback.
What are the next steps.

Address discouragement.
Meet discouragement with supportive words.

Provide closure and momentum for future projects & events.
Honor the team no matter the outcome.
Schedule a victory and learning celebration.

The Truth
Home run, strikeout or somewhere in between, there's always something to celebrate AND something to learn.

_______________________

Passionate Leadership
is who you're being as you're leading.

About the Author

Gayle Ely is a Leadership Coach, Trainer and Facilitator and founder of Total Life Leadership. At Total Life Leadership, we partner with purpose-driven non-profit leaders and service entrepreneurs to help them answer the question “How Do I Become a Better Leader?”

Using The Six Pillars of Passionate Leadership, we equip leaders to be the best they can be.  The result is a passionate leader whose team and organization are operating for maximum impact.

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View The Six Pillars of Passionate Leadership here.
View The Power of Passionate Leadership Model here.