Rest on your laurels origin

Add to word list Add to word list. Just because you've got your degree doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels. Satisfied and complacent.

In Ancient Greece, victorious athletes were presented with laurel wreaths to wear. They were, and still are, signs of great accomplishment, unless you start resting on them Winning competitors in the Ancient Greek Phythian Games, a forerunner of the Olympics founded roughly in the 6th century BC, were given wreaths made of the aromatic laurel leaves as a symbol of their triumph. It was believed that the god Apollo declared the laurel plant sacred after his true love — the nymph Daphne — was turned into one. That is why Apollo was depicted wearing a crown of laurel. The Romans borrowed the idea and began presenting laurel wreaths to victorious military commanders.

Rest on your laurels origin

Having won a campaign, a Roman general could spend the rest of their careers savouring their past successes, basking in the memories of former glories. Past achievements and successes are something to celebrate and learn from; however, they can prevent progress according to John Kotter in his seminal work on Change Initiatives Leading Change HBS Press He refers to it as the biggest mistake companies make and the first of a series of hurdles, that must be overcome to implement a successful change initiative:. Inertia means lack of real movement, a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. This may mean maintaining existing standards, market share or even turnover. Kotter points out that the company presence profile and assets like cars, property and history can lull us into a false sense of security, feeling that the company and our future within it are unshakeable. This very set of assets makes it more difficult to generate a sense of urgency that will compel people to get on-board and support our change initiatives. Another great writer Jim Collins Good to Great — Collins highlights the problem with his key phrase:. They may be pushing harder, innovating more effectively and looking further over the horizon. You know where this story is going. Shaun has worked across a wide range of industries including financial services, automotive, hospitality, utilities, retailers, UK local government and the NHS. He has designed and delivered a broad range of training programmes to help organisations, teams, and individuals improve performance including leading change and innovation, communicating more effectively and improving decision making and personal effectiveness. This site requires Javascript. Please enable Javascript or use an alternative browser. The risk of resting on your laurels Posted on September 26, by Shaun Topham.

Japanese to English. Laurel wreaths were awarded to the winning athletes in the Pythian games, held in honor of the god Apollo every four years.

Every language has its share of idioms and English is certainly no exception. Surprisingly, some of these phrases actually make logical sense when you look into their origins. You lull yourself into a state of complacency, pleased with what you have achieved in the past. To find the origin of this idiom, we must venture all the way back to Ancient Greece. You may have used bay leaves in your cooking.

Would you like to let someone know that it's time to put in some real effort, or tell someone that they have been too relaxed in their efforts and have been slacking off? The term 'resting on your laurels' is a saying that can be used to relate this to someone. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. The term 'resting on your laurels' is a type of figurative saying that can be used to mean that someone is relaxing on their efforts after they are sure their work has paid off, usually too soon. If someone is 'resting on their laurels' then it means that they have become lazy or too relaxed in their efforts after some hard work. Someone can use the term 'resting on your laurels' as a veiled insult that tells someone it's time to stop being lazy or get a move on with the activity in question. The expression is either used as 'resting on your laurels' or said as 'to rest on your laurels'. The term can also be used to deny that someone is 'resting on their laurels' as part of a conversation or comment. Remember that if anyone walks in here, you're fired and I didn't see anything.

Rest on your laurels origin

Add to word list Add to word list. Just because you've got your degree doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels. Satisfied and complacent. The company can't just sit back and rest on its laurels — we have to move on to something new. Translations of rest on your laurels in Chinese Traditional. See more. Need a translator? Translator tool. Browse rest easy idiom. Read More.

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Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes. The Huffington Post. You want to continue learning, growing and improving… including your language and grammar skills. Get the latest news and gain access to exclusive updates and offers Sign me up. Type above and press Enter to search. View More Submit. Inertia means lack of real movement, a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. Translations of rest on your laurels in Chinese Traditional. More like this. You know where this story is going. Buy Kotter's book on change management Buy now.

It was during this time wreaths made up of the laurel leaves were worn as symbol of victory and status. If a laurel is a single accomplishment, then laurels would be many accomplishments. Resting on a single laurel means we are content with one accomplishment for the duration of our lives.

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