Today is Canada Day. The day when Canadians, who normally are known to be pretty low-key when it comes to outwardly expressing their emotions, throw off their inhibitions and proudly and loudly declare their patriotism and affection for our country. For one day at least, fluttering flags, maple leaf logos, and red-and-white attire become par for the course. And if you’re American, Independence Day is coming up this Sunday. You too will be demonstrating your exuberant allegiance to your nation by donning your red, white and blues. You’ll celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, parades, barbecues, concerts and baseball games. No matter which country I happen to be in on both those days, I love watching and being a part of the enthusiasm and the excitement. And I wonder how we could recreate this level of loyalty and passion in our organizations, or at least in our departments.
This is a complex question so there is no single definitive answer. However, I do have one idea. Celebrate! It has been my experience that we rarely build in the time and the resources to celebrate. We just don’t celebrate enough. We accomplish something notable and substantial, but before you know it, we rush off to accomplish the next big milestone. We don’t stop and celebrate. We don’t acknowledge the achievement in a significant manner; we don’t deliberately and consciously thank the people who participated; we don’t take a break to ring the bell, or eat the cake, or hand out the small tokens of appreciation. We just don’t celebrate enough! Perhaps if we celebrated more, we could get a greater degree of loyalty and passion in our departments AND in our organizations.
What do you think? What else could we do to create patriotism in our people when it comes to where they work, and who they work for?