Don’t forget September 19

We celebrate many things: Christmas, a marriage, when a baby is born or when we graduate from school. Special days are marked in our calendars so we won’t forget. September 19th will be such a special day. Not only because it’s my birthday, but also because we’ll launch the Velites Online Leadership Program.

Advantages of celebrations

Celebrating is from all times and has many benefits. The advantages are universal and can come from small celebrations or big parties. When you celebrate as one country when the soccer team wins the soccer World Cup, you’ll see a sense of unity but also people being proud. Celebrations make us feel good, happy and relaxed (not considered the stressful day before your birthday doing grocery shopping etc.). It even helps your physical and mental health.

Why we celebrate

From a philosophical point of view, there is more than only the benefits that we’ve just discussed. Philosopher Hannah Ahrendt talks in her book The Human Condition about the artificial agreement. In a short video, Boris van der Halm does relate her theory to the celebration of holidays. In fact, the celebration of holidays helps us to keep our promises and helps us in our sense of security.

The grounded idea of celebrating life is grounded in an individual’s self-concept. Our life is a journey where we face moments of pain and moments of happiness. Special occasions are milestones along this journey. It gives chances to stop and reflect on our life as a whole. A birthday is not just a party, it shows that someone does matter.

How we celebrate

We can give a big party, but also keep it small. At work we do celebrate big achievements, like a record revenue month or the 100-year existence of the company. We can buy a cake for the department or send a personal note to each and every team member. The personal touch is important for me and it gives the other person the biggest feeling of being someone who does matter. I remember that I wrote for all team members a poem for Sinterklaas, a tradition in The Netherlands. It took me quite some time to write them all, personal based, but the appreciation couldn’t be bigger for the team. With birthdays of team members it was somewhat different. Depending on the person I kept it small or big. But a personal message was the least I could do to wish somebody a good new year full of good health, happiness and love.

September 19

So back to the 19^th of September. Why is this a day to remember? Like I said, it is the start date of the Velites Online Leadership Program and my birthday. But it is more than that, and that’s also one of the reasons why this is our starting date of the program. September 19^th is the blood miracle of Januarius from Naples takes place. Januarius from Naples was the second bishop of Benevento in Italy and was burned and tortured during the Christian persecutions. Every year on the 19^th of September the solidified blood becomes liquid. Solidified blood turning into liquid is a for me a sign of change, a sign of life, a sign of a new start and a sign of that nothing is what it looks like. If you look at the way how the Velites worked in the Roman army you see a lot of similarities.

Ready to join?

The Velites Online Leadership Program is developed in a way that you have to apply what you’ve learned into practice in order to proceed and succeed. Via workbooks, leadership videos, Q&A-sessions and so on, you get the leadership basics. But the implementation takes place via playful learning: one of the best learning methods. The program takes 6 months and is specifically designed for current and future leaders. So, are you ready to join? Register now via our webpage and celebrate with us together our go live date: September 19.