Take the time to celebrate your executive team’s small successes, not just the big ones. Suppose an executive is looking forward to more pay this year, and a sale goes through early and they get a small performance-based reward for it. In the grand scheme of things, this little reward can feel paltry. But as a senior executive, your job is to help people feel progress long before they reach the goal.
This isn’t about convincing someone that something small is something big. That’s inaccurate, inauthentic, and reads as an inappropriate, disconnected pep rally. Instead, it’s about identifying otherwise forgettable, small moments and infusing them to a story of “We’re headed in the right direction, right?!” If you celebrate little victories like that a small check on the way to bigger checks, it highlights moments of progress and helps people get through the ups and downs of the journey.
Celebration is an underused tool. We don’t know how to do it well in business; it often looks fake. But think of a sporting event or a parent celebrating a child’s achievement, and you’ll see how celebration can be very natural. Remember, it’s about celebrating each step as it relates to its value within the context of the path we’re on. In the workplace, a celebration can be a public or private word of encouragement, an email or a senior executive bringing in a special coffee. It doesn’t have to be a big gesture; it just has to be truly caring, thoughtful, and connected to its hopeful context.
Need more ways to keep your team going toward a long-term goal? Learn how strategy can generate forward momentum and why strategic planning can enhance your executive team culture.