Who’s party is this anyway?

At dinner the other evening, a friend told us about the New Canaan, CT Memorial Day parade. We asked how big it was and she said, “Big.” Coming from Southern California, this could mean hours long.

We packed up our chairs, a small cooler and walked into town. We should have known being that New Canaan has 14,000 residents and Huntington Beach has 400,000 our definition of big was likely incorrect. The parade was about 45 minutes long and included veteran organizations, community volunteer services, youth groups (many with American Indian names) and fire trucks.

Walking back, I reflected on the fact that the Veterans were first and were the most recognized. They were the parade. The others were for fun. As a leader it made me think about how often we are invited to participate in events and the importance in preparing. I was at a high level meeting the other day and another leader introduced a new team member as “having a master’s degree from Syracuse or someplace.” That certainly minimized the accomplishment.

How to you ensure you are prepared and recognize the right accomplishments?

PS – Thank you to all our LiaV veterans.