I’ve had the fortunate experience of working with my coaching associate Kate Dwyer over a number of years. She’s always been my backup when I needed to rely on another coach to work with me on projects for clients. This post is one that Kate wrote about the importance of acknowledging the efforts of others.
“It’s a valuable exercise to celebrate what you want to see more of. Throughout the work week, we often witness each other making an effort that goes above and beyond the usual standard of a job description. It may be a small gesture, which is over in a heartbeat, or it may be one of those bigger, more heroic gestures that makes a person’s day much more challenging. Regardless of the size of the effort, we see someone take an extra step on behalf of the whole. Part of great leadership is noticing and acknowledging.
“We have lots of good reasons why we often don’t reward others with acknowledgement. Perhaps we have a meeting to go to, or we don’t want a compliment to go to someone’s head. Maybe we’re concerned he or she won’t like being the center of attention, or we think the person is too busy right now. The bottom line is we miss an opportunity to celebrate great work.
“Try giving more mini-doses of positive feedback right when you notice things, in the moment. Weekly one-on-ones, annual reviews, scorecards or periodic evaluations are all valuable formats for giving organized feedback, but they’re not going to put the spring in our step that makes a work day fly by and feel fulfilling. What gives us that extra boost is knowing that the people we work with pay attention to what we do well. Acknowledging great work, however small, inspires ownership, quality and endurance.”
It’s difficult to express how much I’ve always appreciated and trusted Kate’s integrity and abilities as a coach. But since this post is about acknowledging the extraordinary efforts of others, let this be my thanks to her for all her excellent coaching and support of me over the years.
“Correction does much, but encouragement does more.” — Johann Goethe
“Celebrate what you want to see more of.” — Thomas J. Peter
Kathleen