Do you take the time to celebrate success? Not just the “got a new job” or “bought a new home” kind of milestone event. The every day success that brought you joy, yet you weren’t sure anyone would care. Should you make a big deal of it? The answer is yes. Absolutely yes.
Leading a Team to Success
My first full time role in sales was at a generation one Residence Inn by Marriott. Those are the ones with the exterior entrances. The director of sales I was supposed to report to quit one week before I started. I was given a qualifying information checklist to review, taught how to use the sales database, and told to add the paper files into the system while calling each person. At this point, I knew I didn’t want to go back to working at a casino so I better figure this out.
After three months, I was promoted to Director of Sales and was tasked to hire, train, and oversee a sales manager. One practice I initiated from the start was celebrating success each day. Since we had morning meetings, we would typically start our day with those. Prospecting for an older, extended stay hotel takes tenacity and enthusiasm. It was my responsibility to keep spirits high. Some would say it was my responsibility to meet revenue goals and they wouldn’t be wrong. But just doing that wouldn’t make me a leader and it certainly wouldn’t help my team thrive.
If our team received a new email or phone number getting us closer to the decision maker, we cheered. That’s a success. If we made 100 calls between us, all logged in our database, that was a success. If we scheduled a site tour with a client, another success. The progress and dedication needed to be celebrated to keep that excitement alive. Throughout the years as a leader, I continued this practice.
Happiness in Business
Henrik Edberg, author of the Positivity Blog, wrote a piece called 101 Motivating Quotes on Success. First of all, how great is it that there is a blog on positivity? There are many pieces there that resonate. The one that rings true and clearly for me is from Harry F. Banks. “For success, attitude is equally as important as ability.”
My husband, David, is also in sales. Not in hospitality or travel, which is a win for me so it never feels like we’re talking about work. We can understand each other on a completely different level. Just as I did in the office over the years, we celebrate business and personal success at home. It’s part of the process of lifting each other up and being better than we were the day before.
Celebrating success serves me well as a business owner. There are so many things I’ve had to learn and continue to learn each day. That means I have so much to be proud of that I have studied, so many successes to celebrate each day. Sometimes the accomplishment is cutting myself some slack and recognizing when I need a break. Self care is a major win.
You can always find a success to celebrate. I’ve already started my day celebrating the wave of creativity that resulted in writing this. I cheered myself on, had a dance party while blow drying my hair, and am here smiling at my computer. Today has already been a triumph.