Who deserves the bling?

Humor me here. Those who know me know that I might be slightly obsessed with the Washington Capitals. My love affair with this team started young and has been frustrating. Until last year. After many years of disappointment, heartbreak, and utter humiliation, the Caps won the Stanley Cup. I may have shed a few tears when that happened and I have been living in the afterglow of the championship ever since.

Because I am geeky about the Capitals, this morning I found myself reading a story about how the team's owner, Ted Leonsis, bought championship rings for EVERYONE in the organization (the story is on The Athletic, so there may be a paywall). Not just the players and coaches, not just the ownership team, but everyone:

• TV and radio announcers? Got a ring.
• The guys who sing the national anthem? Got a ring.
• The marketing and sales departments? Got rings.
• The part-time guys doing grunt work on event nights? They got rings too.

So why did the owner of the team spend north of $5 million to buy everyone a ring? The rep from the ring company said it best:

“They truly believed that it took everybody in that organization to win the championship,” said Jostens executive Chris Poitras, who spent six weeks working with Ted and Lynn Leonsis on the design of the players’ ring. “They wanted everyone to be able to cherish it.”

Every leader likes to credit their entire team for wins... but how often do we really mean it? How often are we willing to go the extra mile in our recognition of everyone's contribution? How often are we willing to celebrate the contribution of the person working in the parking lot, cleaning up the sanctuary between services, or making sure that the bathrooms are ready to receive guests on Sunday morning?

Our ability to build and develop volunteer teams is directly linked to our ability to celebrate the contributions that our teams make. I am not suggesting that you spend $12,000 on a championship ring, but I am suggesting that you find ways to make sure that your team knows just how important their contribution is.

How are you celebrating the contribution of your team?