It's OK to look back.

The rearview mirror can be an important tool in successfully navigating change within your organization. While most of your energy should be focused on moving the company forward and getting to the next milestone, taking stock of where you’ve been and how you got where you are can help push you forward.

First think about what you did right:

• What enabled you to get where you are now?

• Are there certain people who were critical to your success?

• Were there specific ways of working that allowed great ideas to flourish?

• Did you practice any daily rituals that brought your team together?

Think about what led to your success so far, and figure out which of those factors are key to continued growth and company health. As you grow, you may not want to, or be able to keep doing everything you did when you were smaller, but it’s important to identify those people, tools and processes that make you who you are as an organization, and decide which are fundamental to your identity. Make sure that your future plans build on this foundation and allow these elements to anchor you and your team.

Celebrate what you and your team have done. Find ways to recognize the effort and commitment of everyone who’s contributed to the company’s success so far. There are many smart articles about how to recognize and reward employees, and the key is finding meaningful ways to thank each person who was a part of building the business. It’s important to pause to do just that, and not just heap more and more work and responsibility on your rock stars as you grow. They need to know that you know that you couldn’t have reached this point without them, and that they play a role in the future of the company.

The leadership team also needs to celebrate their achievements and not just focus on the mountain of challenges to overcome to get to the next phase. I remember that moment when my partner and I realized that the fact that we had thirty employees to worry about was in itself a huge accomplishment and that we should be really proud of what we’d done (with their help), when only two years prior it was just us. Then we got back to stressing out about how to find thirty more, and find ways for all sixty of us to provide great work to our new clients.

Recognize that every change brings loss. The old is pushed aside in favor of the new. And some of these losses will be harder to adjust to than others. Moving to a new office means leaving the conference room where you celebrated your first big win. Doubling in size means monthly all staff meetings can’t include a story from each person without taking two hours. Think of ways to mourn the loss of the good and bring what you can to the new. Take a picture of the team gathered in the conference room, and hang it in the new space. Give the “first generation” of employees some keepsake of being there at the start. Acknowledge what was, and that it was special, and that you won’t have it anymore, but that you’ll create new memories and special places and rituals. It’s ok to let your team know that you feel a sense of loss along with the excitement of what’s to come, and to let them know that you’re aware that they feel loss too. Commemorate it together and then move forward. Together.