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“Selah” - Celebrate little victories

“Selah” - Celebrate little victories.

I noticed a trend among the executives I have been coaching over the past 10 year. They are all driven to succeed. Now this is a good thing. Except sometimes they neglect to stop to celebrate their successes before moving on…

I was having lunch with two board member of a CEO I am coaching. We talked about how well the organization was doing and their tremendous success. Then the topic of celebrating that success came up. Both board members felt the CEO was doing a great job and needed to celebrate small successes more often. One of the board members told me about the word “Selah”. It is an ancient Hebrew word found in the bible between verses. She said it means “stop and ponder”…

For years now I have been encouraging my executives to have “Selah” moments, to “stop and ponder’ on their successes for themselves, their executive team and the entire organization. I encourage them to stop, ponder and celebrate before moving on…

Here are a few ways to “Selah” (stop and ponder) and celebrate:

1. Stop and Ponder - First is to engage people in the debriefing the project, activity, event, etc. This helps them stop, ponder and celebrate. I teach a very simply yet effective continuous improvement model. My “CI” model is two questions: a) What did I do “Well”? b) Where can I “Improve”? By answering the first question, we in essences are uncovering things to celebrate.

2. Celebrate – Now that you have uncovered the things you did well. Celebrate them...both as a group and individually.

3. Keep the momentum going - Celebrate and reset the goal! The key is to keep the growth going. Do this by setting up new metrics. Look at your metrics and break them down in smaller components. Instead of quarterly numbers break them down into monthly, weekly, or even daily components... It is easier to adjust your path if you see the shift sooner. (Also see my blog post on Setting Goals)

4. Celebrate little victories. When you reach these smaller metrics celebrate them. (See previous postings on Motivating People and Building Teams)


How do you celebrate your successes? Let me know what you are doing. E-mail me at Patrick@PatrickDonadio.com

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