Too often in our busy lives do we dedicate time to reflect on the unique and game-changing attributes of our workplace? I have been an advocate of professional association award programs my entire career. The recognition from your peers in a professional organization validates an innovative idea, highly professional product or personal service commitment. However, while the personal gratitude that exists in peer recognition is important, such recognition is also for the betterment of the industry as others can learn from you and emulate what you have accomplished to the betterment of their communities.

The term “best practice” isn’t simply a nice idea that seemed to work in one place at one time, but rather something that has an ongoing impact to a community that can be shared and replicated in many similar communities. This pay-it-forward mindset should remind us of a Warren Buffet quote - “Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Communities thrive in the long-term based on such “tree plantings,” and an awards program is an example. In addition, the positive momentum derived from an award further motivates employees and elected leaders, as well as community and business leaders, to tackle even more challenging issues. This positive momentum is a cornerstone in high-performance organizations.

In my role on the ICMA Local Government Awards Panel since 2011, I have seen many nominations for both innovative programs and inspirational people. These nominations are all important to those submitting them, and many hard decisions have been made in sorting through the best of the best.

ICMA has done a great job for its members in recognizing all nominations through its website, so that any good idea has the potential of being shared with someone else, regardless of whether it received an award or not. The Knowledge Network is a great information resource as all awards' program applications are included in this network. Through a few key words, the Knowledge Network can help you find a program or initiative that might be well-suited for your community.

I have also seen that among the many categories for which awards can be nominated, that there often aren’t many choices to select for recognition, and in some cases, there may not have been any nominations received for a certain category. Usually these arise in the smaller population or foreign country categories; which is unfortunate as some of the best ideas deployed among local governments might have originated in a small town or foreign city.

I also know that there may be some local governments that participate regularly and sometimes receive awards in their state association or some other national organizations, but don’t replicate these stories for the ICMA process. That is unfortunate as the ICMA membership is its own unique professional organization and while some members might have memberships in these other associations, many more do not.

ICMA has tried to make this nomination process as easy as possible and position the applicant to simply share a great story. The criteria for the Local Government Excellence Awards program is clearly illustrated on its website and I encourage everyone to participate. ICMA and the awards panel have tried to make the process easier over the years, and to that end, an online submittal process is being kicked off this year.

It will be a pleasant challenge if the awards panel was overwhelmed with nominations. Ideally, all nominations are programs that can be replicated and hopefully further perfected by others to then be shared back again through a future nomination process. We look forward to hearing your great story!

Nominations for the 2016 Awards Program are being accepted through March 9.