The Outcome or the Journey?

I’ve been privileged this week to receive several unsolicited emails from graduates of my Programmes. The first one said “your programme has literally changed my life”, the next one said “we would not have put ourselves forward to present or nominate our team for Best Team (which they won) if we hadn’t been on your course” and the third one said, … well, you get the picture.

I’m not sharing these to brag (well maybe a little, as I’m really proud of the work I do and the impact it has;-), but mostly as a reminder that in our busyness we often fail to stop and savour the positive feedback or our triumphs – large and small.

Organisations are ruthlessly focused on outcomes. As humans, we do the same when we focus on achieving our goals. But life and leadership isn’t simply a race to the end (one would hope!). By focusing exclusively on goals and outcomes, the journey simply becomes the means to the end. But the outcome is only a moment in time. The journey is what happens day in and day out.

If we don’t pause and allow ourselves and others to celebrate the steps on the journey, something learned, an act of kindness, a courageous choice in a moment of pressure, we do ourselves and those we influence a disservice. When we give ourselves permission to pause and celebrate how far we’ve come, we give those we lead permission to do the same. And when the going is tough, as it so often can be, pausing and acknowledging progress along the way can be the very reminder necessary to help us access our resilience and find the motivation and commitment to carry on, even when times are tough.