Celebrating the Wins

Not long ago I sent a congratulatory email to a friend who had just been elected to a new position in her national association.

She sent back a note thanking me for my email, and revealing that she was a bit disappointed that few of her professional colleagues had acknowledged her national appointment.

I imagine that many of them had seen the announcement and thought, 'Wonderful - good for her!' but just hadn't taken the time to pick up the phone or drop a note. Doing that is probably still on their "to do list" somewhere. Everyone is pressed for time, and It's easy to forget how important those little acknowledgments can be. 

A small number probably had less charitable thoughts, because some people simply can't be happy about anyone else's success.  My philosophy about that is to accept that there are a (very) few people who simply don't have it in them to be happy for you, and move on.

Quint Studer poses this question in a recent blog post - How healthy is your organization?  His criteria for judging that is revealing:

A healthy organization feels good when others hit their goals.

When I meet with a large group, I make a point to recognize and compliment the successful directors on their specific results. I notice in a healthy organization everybody claps and is excited for the person recognized. If it’s unhealthy, the audience will half-heartedly applaud if the boss is clapping, but they possibly are thinking, “Well, let me tell you what I did better than that person. Or let that person try to run my department.” I always point out to the audience that healthy organizations feel good about the success of others. 
Go to Quint's Blog

Beyond the organization, I believe that a genuine willingness to celebrate other people's wins is a way to judge our own emotional health and maturity. It's wonderful to be happy in our own success, but that happiness can be multiplied and experienced many times over by sharing it with others when they succeed as well.

Have you gotten a promotion, received a nice compliment at work, been assigned to an important committee?  Click on comments below and tell us about it.  We're looking for reasons to celebrate!

Comments

[LeAnne]

Well, this is a little thing, but it made me feel good.

I explained a legal case pertaining to credentialing at a committee meeting this week and one of the members said "You do an awesome job for us!"

[jen]

I explained, to a non-medical-staff person, what "provisional" status is, and explained how they go from there to whatever status they qualify for after a year. She responded with "Thanks! That's the clearest anyone has ever explained that to me, and now I understand!"

[Vicki]

I gave a risk management presentation to a group of ambulatory surgery nurses, and about a week later, I received in the interoffice mail a beautiful handwritten thank you note, a gift certificate for the hospital cafeteria, and an ID badge holder which says, "making the difference." I continue to wear the badge holder and think of those nurses every time I put it on. I give dozens of presentations all year long and this was the only time I was acknowledged in such a wonderful way. Since this occurred, I purchased one hundred gift certificates - also redeemable for the hospital cafeteria, and I present them to people who go out of their way to do a good job - from the furniture movers to the department chairmen. It is such a thrill to see someone's face when they are appreciated! There are so many gifted people who go unnoticed or unappreciated. I personally feel tremendous joy when I can sincerely acknowledge these gifts in others, especially in the presence of their peers or supervisors. Maybe the "golden rule" comes much easier for some than it does for others.

[Kim Pakney]

I'd like to extend congratulations to Debra Wilsack, Melanie Mann and Alvin Aramburo for passing the CPCS exam! As their Manager, I can not be more proud.

The other exciting part about their passing, (O.K., I'm going to brag a minute here and invite the rest of you in Alaska to meet the challenge), we now have the only medical staff office in Alaska with more than one person on their credentialing team, where all the members of the team are certified. Woo Hoo!