A New Way To Give Recognition, You’ll Like It

Year-end business has a lot of implications; wrapping up the books, setting new year’s goals, writing up staff performance appraisals and often efforts in recognition. Recognizing company, team and individual accomplishments is as common as mistletoe this time of year. A lot of times it is a leader’s speech or toast at a party, sometimes it is personal and accompanies a bonus check or gift. Sometimes it’s specific, sometimes vague, sometime sincere, sometimes platitude. It can all be good but there’s also a simple way to step up that strategy.

Try telling the people who work with you, or for you, what you like about them. While it may be the duty and obligation of managers and leaders to assess development areas and correct bad habits, work traits, communication deficiencies, missing skills and underwhelming efforts and results that doesn’t mean you can’t express what you like about the very same people regardless of what you may not like.

Peer relationships don’t have corrective behavior obligations but they certainly have benefits when there is goodwill. Obviously, everyone can appreciate a complimentary word but besides making colleagues, staff or co-workers feel good think how much of your work time is drawn to thinking about what you don’t like! It can be startling and lacks joy.

The truth is your personal happiness is increased when your focus moves to positive things. This isn’t a Pollyanna strategy and it doesn’t mean you don’t do all the other managing behaviors. It means simply you should make a point to point out to others their positive or admirable traits. In turn you create balance or even a positive tilt in your own environment.

Hey, Joe… Hey, Mary, you know what I like about you? Bill, you know I really like the way you always seem to…. It’s not a complicated message. It can be a trait, habit, or behavior. You are better to avoid the superficial (appearance) in favor of the substantial. Goodness, we’ve spent countless keystrokes hitting digital LIKE buttons on posts, messages and profiles. Hopefully, we haven’t forgotten how to use the word in a sentence. Use it, use it often, but make a point to find those around you at work (and for goodness sake you should use it [or substitute “love”]) with your family.

I like that you are smart enough to read this post, like it, and share it. Yeah, I like you too.

©2018 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For more BUSINESS THERAPY insights follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts.

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