Make celebrating your wins your new leadership habit

What is a win you wish you spent more time celebrating?

When was the last time you stopped to genuinely sit in the space of celebrating or marking a moment either for you or your team?

Many leaders I meet in operational environments, or fast-paced organisations, rarely pause to soak in the moment and reflect. There’s always another target, another project, another thing to do or problem to solve. But by skipping the celebration, we’re not just missing a feel-good moment, we’re missing a powerful opportunity.

Participants often tell me in programs: “We don’t celebrate wins enough — we just move straight to the next thing.” While that drive for improvement and progress is part of what makes us successful, it also creates a culture of chronic under-recognition. Teams start to feel like nothing is ever good enough.  Or it doesn’t matter how hard they had to push to get there, they never reach the top of the mountain.  Leaders can also start to feel like they’re stuck on a treadmill like a hamster on a wheel.

So why is this such a common pattern?

Our Brain’s Built-In Bias to Focus on What’s Next (and What’s Not Working)

The human brain is wired to detect problems, not to bask in achievements. Thanks to our negativity bias, we naturally focus more on what's lacking, what went wrong, and what needs fixing. It's a great survival tool, but not so great when it comes to motivation, momentum and morale.  This means we need to actively look for the moments to celebrate.

When we do that we can get our dopamine fix, our feel-good neurotransmitter associated with motivation and reward.  Our dopamine gets a boost when we acknowledge progress or wins. But when we rush past our wins without giving them recognition, we deprive ourselves and our teams of that powerful chemical reinforcement.

What Happens When We Don’t Celebrate?

Burnout increases: When everything is a grind and nothing is celebrated, it’s hard to stay energised.

Engagement drops: If people feel their efforts go unnoticed, motivation to go the extra step fades.

Team connection suffers: Celebrations strengthen team bonds, skipping them takes away an opportunity to build on the shared “we” of your team.

Leaders miss a key influence tool: Marking progress builds, trust and shows your team, “yes there are times we need to grind to get the work done, but we see it and it gets recognised”.  If the recognition never comes, your team will start to push back on the continual push that has no end.

Making Time to Mark the Moment: 4 Ways to Celebrate Progress That Counts

Celebrating is about intentionally recognising and reflecting on what’s working,  big or small.  If you are someone that doesn’t need a lot of recognition and doesn’t often give it to others, here’s a place to start:

Start meetings with a “win round”
Begin weekly team meetings by asking each person to name one recent success, however small. This trains the team (and your own brain) to scan for progress, not just problems.

Write it down and share it
Keep a “Done List” alongside your to-do list,  and share achievements in team channels. Visibility = validation.

Create a visual progress board
Especially on long projects, track milestones visually in your workspace. Watching progress builds momentum.

Mark the win, even mid-project
Don’t wait until it’s all wrapped up, celebrate key milestones, a simple “Well done getting through that phase” goes a long way.

Be a Champion of Celebration 

As a leader, it’s not just about having these moments, we need to be intentional about creating them. To build a culture that values progress and celebrates its wins, you need to lead the way. Model what it looks like to acknowledge effort and give recognition. 

Set calendar reminders to reflect on wins as part of your weekly or monthly rhythm. Build small rituals into your team’s way of working, whether it’s a quick Friday shout-out or acknowledging milestones in regular meetings. If you make it important as a leader, your team are more likely to do it themselves. And over time, this becomes part of your leadership signature, someone who sees people, values effort, and knows how to make progress feel meaningful.

Celebrate With Intention

Celebrating wins isn’t just fluff or something that means we reward people for turning up and doing their job, it’s a leadership behaviour that strengthens culture, boosts performance, and builds trust. In a world that’s always pushing for more, smart leaders know when to pause and say, “Look how far we’ve come.”

Even just a few moments of recognition can change the emotional tone of a team. And that matters, especially in high workload environments where people are giving their all.

So, this week, slow down and celebrate something. Mark the moment. Your brain, and your team, will thank you for it.