Congratulating the Class of 2020

“The important thing is to not stop questioning.”
—Albert Einstein

Since the celebrations for the graduating classes of 2020 are constrained due to Covid-19, I wanted to contribute and give recognition to the graduates.

First, congratulations to our daughter Anastasia, who graduated from the University of Regina with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

How the time flies! I remember Anastasia’s high school graduation just four short years ago.

Now, she has accepted a grad nurse position with a senior care facility where she previously worked casually as a care aid. In addition to work, she is studying for her Registered Nurse exam that she’ll write this summer.

It’s a pretty exciting time to be a nurse in a senior’s care facility, protecting the residents from a global pandemic.

Anastasia Symchych, B.Sc. Nursing

In addition to her important nursing duties, she is continuing to learn about other “adulting” (her word, she is the editor) matters like making sure the payroll department gets your pay correct, having a good attitude at work, and helping others.

Turning to business, what important celebrations are you, your employees, and your customers missing out on during these times?

Celebrating your employees and customers, whether formally or informally, is especially important during these unprecedented times.

What can you do to celebrate business? Here are several ideas:

1. Maintain your prior regular social activities such as celebrating birthdays and work anniversaries online using online video such as zoom or WebEx.
2. Shout out special recognition for unique achievements such as: parents working from home while educating their school aged children, spouses of employees working in health care or other essential services such as our valuable supply chain so we can buy groceries, and even innovative home office set ups.
3. If you know people who have been diagnosed with Covid and recovered, or know people who know people, celebrate their recoveries. They’re out there.
4. Celebrate your employees who are learning new things like how to use a microphone on a zoom call and now they sound like radio announcers. Bonus if they are using more than the basic ceiling light in their room. Hint: look up “three-point lighting” on the web for more tips on lighting.
5. Call your best customers to thank them for their years of business and offer to keep taking care of them now and in the future. Ask them what you can do to help them now. Remember, you’re not bothering them, you’re offering to help. In fact, you’re never bothering them.
6. Celebrate anniversaries with your customers. It will be fun to call them and to reminisce over three or thirty years of business together, through good times like the last ten years, and tough times, like every recession and economic curve ball you’ve been through together.
7. Celebrate how many years you’ve been in business. It doesn’t matter if it’s one year (the hardest year) or 21 years. You don’t need a major anniversary. Just celebrate your birthday or age in business.
8. Celebrate the fact that, as a small/medium business owner, you drive 54% of the GDP in the top 17 economies of the world, according to the world bank.
9. Being alive today in business, regardless of the struggles and challenges, is worth celebrating.

This week, I’m celebrating a major achievement by one of my coaching clients, Gary Furr, who is conducting a highly successful turnaround. His client was losing money before Covid and is now making money during Covid. That’s a turnaround worth celebrating.

On a webinar today, I heard Dr. Susan David, a psychologist from Harvard, say that “Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life.”

It’s time for more optimism, positivity, and celebrations in your business and in your life.

What can you celebrate?