Probably many of you are reading this blog post with bleary eyes having set your alarms to watch the “wedding of the century” with Wills and Kate. Personally, I PVR’d it so that I could fast forward through the boring bits (most of the 3 hours actually) and then watched the balcony smooch live. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been fascinated by the absolute mania surrounding the Royal Wedding and wondered if the world had actually gone mad. As I watched the crowds this morning, I found myself rolling the lyrics of 70’s funky pop super group Kool and the Gang through my head…
“Celebrate good times, come on! It’s a celebration.”
One of the fundamental things about we human beings is that we love a good party… especially if it distracts us from the horrible realities of what’s going on in our “real life”. Certainly, the UK’s been struggling for a while and with the US economy in a continued tailspin, it explains why TLC (a US station) has been broadcasting “Royal Wedding Week”.
It got me thinking that perhaps distracting ourselves with frothy parties helps us keep going through the rough times. I think, as leaders, it’s so easy to forget to celebrate – especially when we’re in the midst of a crisis. Hunkering down seems to be the responsible thing to do… after all, we can throw a party after we’ve achieved the results. We shouldn’t distract ourselves from the task at hand… or should we?
Maybe throwing our own “royal wedding” is just what we do need to get re-energized to go back into the battles of work and life. You don’t need to blow the budget (nobody needs your face on a mug or dishtowel), but taking time out to have some fun and celebrate may be just what the productivity doctor ordered.
So kick back, bust out your synchronized dance moves, crank up Kool and the Gang and have a party… right here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw1P7gdtAeY]
Happy leading!
