Beyond Rewards: Celebrations that Work
Leadership’s fascination with results misses the point. Behaviors drive results. Celebrations need to focus on behaviors.
“Know what to reinforce, who to reinforce, when to reinforce, and how to reinforce.” (This is What Leaders Do)
Celebrations that Work
Reward behaviors you want repeated.
- Define it.
- Notice it.
- Name it.
- Celebrate it.
It’s easy to reward results. Celebrations that work highlight how wins happened.
Practice
Celebrations spring from investigation. When someone succeeds, ask them to describe what they did to succeed. It may take several explorations. Sometimes people don’t realize the secrets to their success.
Imagine a team member notices team meetings frequently going off track. This person brings up the concern and suggests all agenda items must answer two questions. What’s the reason for this item? What’s the desired outcome of the conversation?
Do more than honor ideas. Celebrations that work highlight attitudes and actions that produce improvement.
- Respect for time.
- Desire to get things done.
- Imagination to create a suggestion.
- Initiative to take action without being told.
- Courage to bring up a concern.
Saying, “Great job,” is shallow compared to honoring behaviors.
“Dance in the End Zone”
Russell Justice distills celebrations into a four-step ritual:
- What did we do?
- Why is it important?
- How did we do it?
- Enjoy the accomplishment.
Turn vague praise into targeted reinforcement. Lock in learning. Make success feel earned, and repeatable.
Practical Celebrations
- Start meetings by sharing one repeatable behavior.
- Call out behaviors in emails. Be specific.
- Ask managers to report on who they “caught doing good.”
- Provide token rewards: A rubber band for flexibility. A flashlight for clarity. A golden shoe for going the extra mile.
“Celebrate improvements and reinforce the behaviors leading to those improvements.” Russell Justice
Celebrations that work focus on behaviors.
What can you celebrate today?
This post is inspired by the new book; This Is What Leaders Do: Seven Essentials to Inspire and Empower Your Team.
