Celebrate! Celebrate! "Celebrate people's successes," encouraged Frank L. VanderSloot when he announced the seven critical business-building activities. "Whenever people do anything good, i.e. make an appointment, enroll a new customer or turn Director, make sure you're patting them on the back. Write them notes of congratulations. Let them know you've noticed their achievements. Celebrating success is a crucial element to building a business!" The more you celebrate accomplishments, the better your group will become. Rewarding effort is a great way to make sure that effort is repeated. Whether you congratulate someone in private or recognize them in front of your whole team, they will know how much they are appreciated.

So how do you go about celebrating success? There are hundreds of ways! Some of the top leaders in Melaleuca have hosted many wonderful celebrations and really boosted the morale of their organization. But extravagant celebrations are certainly not necessary. Even if you just mention what they did and say, "Thank you," the result is the same.

Compiled here is a list of ideas that you can use in your area. But remember, the most important part of celebrating is not how you do it - it's just making sure you do it!

Dazzling Stars Dinner Club

This is a celebration pioneered by Margie Rae, Executive Director V, from Idaho. "These dinners are a celebration of builders who are advancing their status," says Margie. "They can be held quarterly or annually, depending on the amount of activity and growth on your team. A deadline is set to reach the next level to qualify for the dinner. The qualification might be reaching Director, or you might say Director II and above. Or you can qualify by hitting quarter century, half century, or century enroller club."

Celebrating success at a Dazzling Stars Dinner. Left to right: Don & Margie Rae, Dick & Peggy Pickett, Barbara & Dave Rae.

Margie holds these dinners at country clubs, nice restaurants, specialty restaurants, or even theme events (like a ferry dinner or a sleigh ride dinner). The Senior and Executive Directors will pay for the dinners for their advancing teams. "We toast and or roast our achievers with a lot of fun," she says. "The celebrated say a few words about their goals, their team, and how they got there. It's such an exciting time!"

This dinner event has encouraged many people to advance, just so they could attend. Dick & Peggy Pickett, Senior Directors III in Oregon, were brand-new enrollees when they heard about the Dazzling Stars dinner that Margie and her sister, Executive Director III Barbara Rae, were holding. They enrolled eight customers and were thrilled to be in attendance at the dinner, which was held on a stern wheeler riverboat. "We swore we'd come back to the next one with a full team and dominate the group," says Dick. "It was a real motivation to us."

The Melaleuca Picnic

Brian Chandler, Executive Director VII of North Dakota, has found that his group loves to get together and celebrate. "One thing that we do to celebrate success is throw a Melaleuca picnic every summer," says Brian. "We bring in Marketing Executives from all over our organization. We have prizes, games for the kids, etc. I know that most people in our organization look forward to that big day." With food, fun, music and laughter, this celebration not only increases the friendships of the business builders, but also encourages them to keep working.

The Celebration of Champions

Brian Chandler also holds something called the Celebration of Champions, an annual event held in February. "We celebrate a year's worth of activities with awards, prizes and more. This year we gave an all-expense-paid vacation to Las Vegas, airfare included." The way Brian works it is by awarding tickets for everything people do - appointments, enrollments, advancements, etc. "The more you did the more tickets you earned. This way someone who got their name in the hat once or twice was eligible for all the prizes. We gave away cash, trips, TVs, and palm pilots. We had a blast!"

Wear Your Pins

What fun it is to celebrate success! Ex. Dirs. Don & Margie Rae, along with Sr. Directors Tom & Monica Brown, and several Directors from their organizations.

Dick Pickett firmly believes that if you've earned a pin, you should wear it. "We wear our pins on our nametags at our Fast Track," Dick says. "If people have not been to a Melaleuca function that gave them a nametag, we make them a similar nametag. We encourage them to wear their pins from their advancements levels, such as Director, Director II, etc., and wear the 'I've Decided' and 'No Matter What' pins as well." Other pins to include would be the Expanded Circle of Influence or 20/20 club pins. "They've earned them and worked hard to get them. They should wear them."

As a gift to folks who advance to Director during a Fast Track, Dick will give them an "I've Decided" pin, and have their enroller stand and read the caption that is on the pin card to help celebrate the enrollee's success. For Directors II, he gives the "No Matter What" pin and has the enroller read that caption. "That's a powerful statement, and we want to reinforce their commitment by having it read to the group."

Celebration Instills Success

"We believe that even before success happens, we should celebrate with our new people," says Dick Pickett. "That celebration shows that we believe in them, even before they believe in themselves. Celebrations are a big motivator for people to reach their goals."

In this light, celebration is not something you do after a big success. It's what you do for each little accomplishment that will bring on bigger accomplishments. Give your business builders a "high five" today and let them know they are appreciated. The results will be wonderful!

 Editor's note: This is the fifth article in the series of seven critical business-building activities.

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