Why celebrating success matters in leadership

As we are about to enter the season of festivity and celebration, it reminded me of the need to ensure we celebrate success, achievements or just continuous hard work throughout the year rather than just at set times.

Encouraging coaching leaders at all levels of an organisation to routinely catch people when they do the right things and behave in the right way has a dual benefit. 

Firstly, everyone feels good when they receive positive feedback and recognition. Secondly, when we acknowledge that we have noticed someone getting good results, behaving in line with company values or acting in a professional way, it reinforces the message that we want to see more of the same in the future.

Most of us have experienced the way that if you laugh or acknowledge a small child behaving in a certain way, they keep doing it to get a similar response. As adults, it is no different; we still like to please those around us.

Make recognition meaningful

The way in which you choose to celebrate success, however, must be individual and meaningful to the recipient, and this is where the skill lies.

It takes time for leaders to get to know each member of the team, especially if they have a wide span of control. This is time well spent, understanding each person’s individual personality, building a picture of what is important to that person’s life inside and outside of work, plus also identifying their motivational mix; what makes them tick. 

Once you have built a pen picture of each person, it is much easier to work out what type of reward or recognition would likely work for that person when it comes to celebrating success or a period of hard work and dedication.

Some people like to be publicly recognised in front of their peers or senior management, while others would like a simple thank you behind closed doors.

A leadership skill that lasts

This type of tailored approach is equally important regardless of the size of the team or business. It is most often the individual leader who makes this happen, and it becomes part of the leadership toolkit they can take with them throughout their career.

So, I challenge you: how good are you at recognising the efforts of others? Is this something you are naturally good at and simply need to continue, or is it an area where you could do even better?

We need to look after our high performers while encouraging the growth and development of future high performers.