If you’ve ever met me, you probably know I love the Oscars. When you love something, it’s even better when you can share it with others. That’s why I host an online Academy Awards party and share it with a few other die-hards.

My friends and I got to talking the next day and we came up with:

5 Things We Can Learn from the Oscars 2019

1.  Celebrate Diversity – Until very recently, the Oscars and other award shows weren’t known for their diversity, quite the opposite. One of the wonderful things about the event THIS year was the diversity represented within the films, the nominations, and the awards. This is the world we are fortunate enough to live in, and everyone was being celebrated.

Think about your business or organization in these terms. Take a look at your website, marketing materials, etc. Do they reflect the people who work for you? Diversity training is great, but it’s not a ‘one and done’ kind of thing. Examine your own implicit biases and encourage others to do the same. Ensure opportunities for all, and celebrate differences.

2. Shine the light on your supporting players – Did you know that the Oscars had planned to hand out a few awards during commercials until there was an uproar about it? And quite rightly! It takes EVERYONE  on the team delivering their specific expertise to reach your overall service and organizational goals. When you’re doling out awards and praise, make sure you include the behind-the-scenes people, the third shift people, and those that quietly and with dedication, help you do what you do. Enjoy our earlier blog post on this topic here.

3. Create the Experience – The Academy Awards are all about the experience. From the red carpet arrivals, to the gorgeous set, to the planned entertainment and the orchestrated suspense, everything is designed to WOW the audience in the theatre as well as the one at home. Queen opened the ceremony with a bang, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper arose from the audience mid-way to perform their winning song, and the show ended with A-list star Julia Roberts announcing the biggest award of the night. All of this was intentional and rehearsed to provide the best experience for the audience.

To create an extraordinary experience for your customers (and team members) it takes planning and preparation. Carefully think about the red carpet first impressions and last impressions you want to make. What does your customer onboarding process look like? What about your team member orientation? Is your last impression a positive one? What about surprise and delights along the way?

The more carefully you design the experience, the more delighted your audience (customers & employees) will be, and that leads to rave reviews, referrals and repeat business.

4. Prepare, but allow for spontaneity – Preparation is key. However, it’s also important to have fun, allow for spontaneity and work from the heart! The best acceptance speeches of the night were not a big long list of names, but heartfelt, inspired, and unexpected. My personal favorites came from Rami Malek, Lady GaGa and Olivia Coleman.

Plan your customer experience, but then leave room for heart, because it’s your heart that will inspire your audience and connect them to you emotionally. When you connect to your customers and your team emotionally, then they are inspired to act on your behalf.

5. Honor others – Don’t you love it when the winners acknowledge the other nominees? It’s another way of sharing the moment, and it also demonstrates respect for their colleagues.

We heard this again and again. Success is never a solo journey. As you get kudos for your successes, be sure to share the spotlight and acknowledge the many people who helped you get to where you are today.

Did you watch the Oscars this year?  Let us know, in the comments below, what you thought of the ceremony and especially if you can think of other lessons to be learned.

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Donna Cutting is the Founder & CEO of Red-Carpet Learning Systems, Inc., a consulting firm which provides tools and training to help organizations build cultures of engaged employees delivering consistently excellent customer service. She’s the author of two books on the topic, including501 Ways to Roll Out the Red Carpet for Your Customers, and is working on her third as of January 2019. To learn more about how we can help you improve employee engagement and customer happiness, email us atSTARS@redcarpetlearning.com and ask for a complimentary consultation.