Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Don’t Forget to Celebrate!
Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it serves as a reminder that it is important to celebrate.
It’s graduation season, and I have had the privilege of participating in many graduations over the last 35 years. This past weekend was no exception, when I participated in the graduation ceremony for a class of education students who had completed their bachelors’ degree in Transformational Education. Family and friends were there to mark this milestone achievement, there was a beautiful ceremony in which they participated, they received a diploma as a marker of the accomplishment, and words of affirmation and encouragement were shared with them. It was a wonderful time of celebration.
It was also a reminder to me of the importance of celebrations to mark the milestones and events that we experience. These milestones and events can be the completion or accomplishment of something major, they can be steps on a path or a journey, or they can be reminders of a significant past event. Regardless of which of these it may be, it is important that we take time to celebrate!
When we celebrate, we put a flag or a marker around an event or an accomplishment that draws attention to what was achieved. It highlights something important that has been done and gives us the opportunity to draw attention to that. Then, because we have marked it, it is something that we can point back to to remind ourselves of what we’ve done. Too often, our attention is grabbed by obstacles or difficulties or struggles or failures, so we need to be intentional about celebrating the positive achievements. It builds morale, and can help to maintain motivation throughout the journey of a project or a process.
And that’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from celebrating another graduation. There are moments of accomplishment along the paths of our lives and in the processes and projects that we undertake, and it is important that we celebrate those. Doing this lets us affirm the accomplishments of others, reignites joy, and helps people to keep moving forward. So when good things happen, don’t forget to celebrate.
