Now that the Christmas season is in full swing, my wife and I have been enjoying (again) the endless parade of Christmas movies . . . especially those on Hallmark Channel. Yes, I know, these movies are often formulaic, corny and utterly predictable, yet isn’t that why so many people tune in? If there is a time of the year when we want . . . need, “feel good movies” isn’t it the Holiday season?
Photo Courtesy: HallmarkChannel
Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas has become a ratings bonanza for the channel and it’s clear that they have struck a chord with millions of people. Some of our favorite Hallmark Christmas movies are The Christmas Card, The Note, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Call Me Mrs. Miracle, Matchmaker Santa, A Very Merry Mixup and Signed, Sealed Delivered for Christmas.
Returning to the Small Town
Now, if you’ve watched enough Christmas movies, you know that the plot often involves someone who lived in a small town, moved to the big city and then some situation occurs that brings the main character back home (grudgingly) to the small town where she grew up. There the main character discovers that what she was searching for in the big city (but never found) was always in the small town she grew up in. So, she gives up her Mercedes-Benz, Manhattan loft and job as a high-powered executive to spend more time with family and her high-school sweetheart, rediscovers the magic of Christmas and enjoys the simple life, once again.
Why is it that the plots don’t involve someone deciding that a 300 square foot condo in New York (or Chicago) renting for $2,000 a month, endless hours on a subway, being one person in a crowd of a million, and climbing up the corporate ladder on the backs of others is the way to go? Why is it the movies never end with the main character realizing the true spirit of Christmas is found in the corporate office, or the board room, or in having lots of money and no one to spend it with?
Relationships Matter
Have you also noticed that these movies also often chronicle a reconciliation with someone in the character’s life or a rediscovery of how important the relationships really are? A daughter returns home and realizes that she needs her mom more than she thought. A man comes home and learns that the little family business is not such a bad thing and maybe his dad was onto something. People discover that Starbucks is not a necessity and perhaps the lousy coffee at “Millie’s Diner” offers something that a chain coffee house, in the big city can never provide.
Maybe the folks at Hallmark are onto something. I mean, wouldn’t you want to live in a Hallmark Movie?
Success-Hallmark Style
Yes, I know we can’t all move to the small town and live the Hallmark story. You still have apartments to lease, residents to retain, landscaping contracts to close, asphalt to repair, people to lead, and numbers to hit! But just maybe you can:
- Lease more apartments,
- Retain more residents
- Sign more contracts
- Get more management companies to sign up for your service
- Get the promotions and pay raises you want
- Hit your numbers and/or help the people you lead hit their numbers
- SUCCEED
….by understanding what truly drives the people around you-since your success is dependent on the people around you!
We all long for good, authentic, close relationships don’t we? We all want to be loved, cared for and valued. We all want to be seen. We want to feel important. We all want to be appreciated for the people we are, not just the things we do, the house we live in or the cars we drive. We want to feel more than a name and a number in the midst of the crowd.
How good have you been at cultivating the relationships in your life, office, communities, client list this year? Whether you’ve been “good or bad” it’s never too late! You can start connecting again, today!
