Memorialize
me·mo·ri·al·ize
(mə-môr′ē-ə-līz′)
tr.v.
1. To provide a memorial for; commemorate.
2. To present a memorial to; petition.
This is my favorite time of year. Yes, it is a big day in our spiritual calendar and pretty important stuff is celebrated in our faith. And, I will be with all six children, son & daughter in law, and two grandchildren (with two more on the way in the next few months). That is getting rarer as the years pass and I don’t take one moment of it for granted.
But there is something else happening in greater frequency that we are experiencing this time of year. We are challenging everyone we coach to memorialize this point in time:
Celebrate
Honor
Acknowledge
Assess
Dream
Plan
For us and many other leaders and teams, we…
Got the right team together.
Honored the value of each person.
Celebrated all they’ve accomplished.
Acknowledged all the difficulties they have overcome.
Took an honest assessment of where they are.
Got clear on the challenges they are facing.
Dreamed a more inspired future.
Developed a simple strategy and plan to get them there.
This one day experience will change the course of their company’s future and lives. Stopping to memorialize where you’ve come from, where you are, who you are, and where you are going. We experienced the power of this for so many clients and ourselves this year, that we are going to make sure this happens for as many people as possible in the future.
If you don’t mark your progress,
it can feel like you aren’t going anywhere.
This one day can redeem the past, mark a point in time, and powerfully set the stage for the future. Even if you don’t retain folks like us to help you have this kind of experience, I hope you try to touch at least a few of the bases listed above. You’ll be the better for it and your teams will experience a sense of camaraderie, hope, and engagement like you have never seen.
This time of year, we want to wish you Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or blessings in whatever your tradition celebrates. We wish powerful times of connection with all those you love.
But we also wish powerful engagement, celebration, and inspired planning for the future. Whether before the end of the year or to mark the start of the next one in January, it is worth every minute you can find to make that happen.
Consider
Have you stopped to memorialize all the progress you made last year?
Have you honored and celebrated the folks that got you here?
Have you honestly assessed where you currently are as a company?
Have you spent any time dreaming and planning with those you lead?