Do Grown Ups Really Need Awards?
It’s that time of year: Awards Season! Organizations, especially Associations, love to single out certain people to receive special and unique recognition. Only certain people seem to get these awards and it’s hard to figure out the why and the how of the decision process. In the association community, it seems there is one person each year that gets all the “big” awards from several groups. I often wonder why different people don’t get these awards; why does it tend to be the same person?
The same goes for other forms of recognition like Fellows programs or other awards categories. There is a lack of transparency in how these decisions are made but many rumors abound – you have to “know someone,” or you have to “give a lot of money,” or you have to be in another special group first . . . this points to the fact that however these decisions are being made, no one is talking.
There was a time in my career that I really wanted to get these types of awards and recognition. I worked hard, donated money, volunteered, acted as an ad hoc ambassador for the organization – and yet no recognition came my way. Others were always selected for these mysterious reasons that no one can explain. I learned that even if you do “all the things you are supposed to do,” it means diddly squat.
Over the years, I accepted that as nice as this type of annual award or fellow nomination recognition is, I would not be one of the recipients. I’m sure it’s an exciting and fulfilling experience. As Sally Field famously said, “You like me! You really like me!” But over the years I have seen so many people who contribute and help and share that are always overlooked – even if they initiate the work or the project that helps others in the community.
It’s why I like the AWTC Awards program. They recognize as many people every year as they can. While they do offer unique individual awards, they have a program called AWTC Champions which points out the work of those of us “working in the shadows” so to speak. I was very pleased to be nominated back in 2022 for an AWTC Champion award and was somewhat shocked when I actually received one.
But I need to get back to the point of this article, which is reflected in the title: do Grown Ups really need awards? As adults, don’t we know our own worth and the worth of others? Do we really need to set certain people apart in a way that can make others feel less than? And what are we actually recognizing? Are we really recognizing contributions to the overall association community, or are we recognizing loyalty to an organization?
Once we get out of the 6th grade, I would hope we would expand our worldview and get away from this sort of thing. But, humans have always been obsessed with celebrity and people watching. We love to take a person we don’t really know and make them an icon for an idea or imagine they are above the rest of us. One of the most important things you can learn from the Marvel and DC Comics respective universes is this: even superheroes need love. To make another person into an icon means removing some of their humanity. They become what the audience sees rather than the complex being we actually are.
It’s nice to be thanked and recognized for our contributions both big and small. It’s also called giving credit where it’s due. If someone launched a project or did something helpful, it costs nothing to thank them and to give them some public recognition. The phrase “your efforts don’t go unnoticed” is like the vice presidency: it’s worth a cold bucket of spit.
Next time a colleague or a member does something to help or contribute, take the time to recognize them and let them know you see what they are doing. Again, it doesn’t cost you anything but it is of the utmost value.
