Celebrating Small Wins

Our Board and Staff met this month to work on a strategic plan for the next biennium and after describing a handful of successes, a Board member asked me if I had paused to really understand the impact of that work…if I had stopped to celebrate the successes.

I had not. I am hard wired to just keep moving toward the next success. I am not skilled at the “celebration” part and the realization of this weighed heavily on me.

Later that same week, I caught a Mariner’s game on a quick business trip to Seattle. This conversation around “celebration” was still top-of-mind as I watched a player hit a single, the next a double. With each small victory the crowd cheered, and the players congratulated each other – and themselves.

I watched this behavior through each inning in awe of the leadership lesson unfolding before me. The team hadn’t just won the World Series. They hadn’t even won the game. And yet they celebrated each small victory that taught them a valuable lesson on improvement and working better together.

The team didn’t wait until they pitched a no-hitter to celebrate success, they did it at every single step along the way. And thinking back to my conversation with the Board member at our retreat, it became clear to me that we can and should do the same. Of course, I researched the many ways to put celebration into action and will feature articles throughout the month of May on our social media channels for you to read as well.

Celebrating the BIG wins is a comfortable place for me, and we did a lot of that this month as you’ll see in the stories below. And we have a unique opportunity to celebrate incredible lifetime successes through the Montana Business Hall of Fame nominations below.

I hope you will take time to recognize someone in your industry who exemplifies the leadership qualities listed…and I hope they are LMT alumni!

The Montana Business Hall of Fame recognizes business leaders who have been successful in private enterprise in Montana. By identifying outstanding examples of business leadership, the Hall of Fame recognizes, shares, and documents stories of success and innovation. The Hall of Fame creates an awareness of appreciation of Montana’s rich heritage of business leadership.

Business leaders selected for the Montana Business Hall of Fame are recognized for their contributions to Montana within the past 25 years. Posthumous nominations are welcome. The criteria for acceptance into the Montana Business Hall of Fame include:

• Outstanding business performance
• High standard of ethics
• Willingness to take risks
• Concern for the customer and for the well-being of employees
• Innovative business ventures
• Contributions to their local communities and the state

Anyone interested in acknowledging the outstanding contributions of Montana business leaders may submit a nomination to the MSUB College of Business. Those selected for the honor will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony held Wednesday, November 6 at the Northern Hotel.

You are invited to nominate a business leader you believe is worthy of recognition. Please use this form to submit your nomination by May 17, 2019.