3 Reasons to Positively Celebrate Birthdays
Nov 12, 2023
Last Friday was my birthday. It wasn’t a decade birthday or a significant one like I can now vote, drink legally, or qualify for Medicare. (I am counting the days until Medicare though.)
It was just a birthday, but every birthday is special to me.
You see, I have friends who aren’t here to celebrate. They left younger than me. I have family who aren’t here that were my mentors. Today, I have other friends who face the inevitability of a shorter life from cancer. Every birthday is special to me.
And that’s why I celebrate my birthday big every year. And it’s why I celebrate others’ birthdays as well. Some of my friends and clients even get birthday calls with some lucky few enduring my singing “Happy Birthday.” Why?
Here are 3 Reasons to Positively Celebrate Birthdays:
Everybody wants to feel special.
The first reason to positively celebrate birthdays is because everybody wants to feel special.
Time is the most precious gift we have to give each other. Taking the time to wish someone “Happy Birthday” takes a few minutes and is a tremendous investment in a relationship.
Most of our co-workers and clients expect transactional contact, e.g., “Thank you for your order” notes or “Is everything working well for you?” phone calls.
When you invest the time in a transformational contact—a “Happy Birthday” card or call—your client feels special. Like they matter to you beyond the order. You humanize the relationship with this action because every single one of us, at some deep, internal level, want to feel special.
We want to know we matter beyond the typical in business.
Everybody wants to know someone cares.
The second reason to positively celebrate birthdays is because everybody wants to know someone cares.
The global world of business can be overwhelming today with all of us working harder and hopefully smarter just to stay even. We drive and are driven by noses and nickels.
Yet the ones who are truly successful by all metrics are the ones who care and find ways to express that care. A computer doesn’t care when its processor was created. A human being does care when it was birthed.
One is a tool that expedites business. The other is the facilitator of business.
Keep the distinction clear as you do business.
Everybody wants to know someone cares. Be that person who expresses care.
Everybody wants to be human first.
The third reason to positively celebrate birthdays is because everybody wants to be human first.
John Naisbitt’s Megatrends highlighted many years ago a true reality of today: the more technology drives our world, the more we starve for the human experience.
The companies and leaders who attract the best talent and retain it, who are in relationships with loyal clients and customers, are the ones who humanize their work culture. Who draw close enough to humanize the transaction. Who risk bridging the diversity to say simple yet profound statements like “Happy Birthday.”
Say “Happy Birthday!” to someone today. It’s one way you create a positive work culture that connects people and profits.
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