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Last weekend, I attended the wedding of a client colleague and friend, and luckily I stayed just long enough to see the Chinelo dancers.  I had no idea what a Chinelo dancer was prior to this wedding; however, they were a big hit!

Chinelos is a traditional carnival dance in the Mexican state of Morelos.  The Chinelo dancers dance to a brass band – in essence it is a colorful hip hop focused on the family.  It is hard not to be cheerful with the family traditions, colorful costumes, big hats and powerful music of this dance.  I understand they play at festivals, weddings, funerals and rodeos.  Now that reminds me of the New Orleans funeral – quite the festivity!  Have you thought about the importance of family traditions and being colorful?  

One tip to implement this week: 

I work with many family-owned businesses – and businesses that could learn something by creating family-type traditions, even if private equity backed or a department or facility of a multi-billion dollar enterprise.  What brings your teams together?  Similar to this Chinelo dance that brings grandparents with grandchildren and many more together and passes through the generations, what sort of legacy could your team create where your team members would desire to pass it to the next generation, mentee or peer?

Why not think of something fun?  Enjoying your day certainly can go a long way to creating a happy environment with happy and productive employees.  How about colorful?  Why not ignite the creativity within your team?  Creativity and innovation can create dramatic results but they cannot be dictated.  Your people must feel safe in being colorful, making mistakes and learning from them.  Do they?  Take a small step and find a way to add a bit of color to your day.

© Lisa Anderson

June 30, 2017