The Lost Art of Appreciation

How many personal thank you notes would you say you wrote last year?

Judging by the number I have received over my life, I’m guessing the number is (unfortunately) low.  But why?

In a recent study on employ engagement conducted by Towers Watson, less than 40 percent of workers felt like their bosses cared about their well-being?

Have you ever walked into businesses where the mood is upbeat and everyone seems to genuinely like each other?  My guess is the culture, starting from the top, is one that values appreciation highly.

When people feel genuinely appreciated, they do their best work.  They are more creative. They feel their purpose is greater even when performing (seemingly) mundane tasks.  They are also friendlier and have less stress, than those who are rarely told anything positive.

Carrots have always worked better than sticks, but Carrots have to be planted, watered, and cared for.

The stick is easy.  Just pick it up.

If we know praise and appreciation works better than authoritarian-type leadership, why do we see more of the latter?

I believe people feel strange doing it.  When cornered, they will tell you it feels, “awkward, fake, or contrived”.

The truth is appreciation can be learned and when put into practice, can have immediate and lasting benefits to your club.

Think about it?

Why would a tournament director consider going to another club if they truly felt you valued their decision to come to yours, and told them so?

Have you ever heard of an employee leaving because you appreciated them too much?

What member wouldn’t be excited to find they aren’t just another number and how many people do you think they might tell?

Cultivating a positive atmosphere is actually pretty easy.

For starters:

1. Try and catch people doing things right.
2. Force yourself to write at least one positive note to a member, employee, or tournament director each week.
3. Focus more on the person, than the task at hand.
4. Cultivate an open and honest work environment where people aren’t publicly or privately reprimanded for speaking their mind (constructively).
5. Get in the habit of publicly praising people, it will catch like wild fire.
6. Quit leaning so heavily on emails to communicate.  Remember Covey’s admonition, “Be efficient with things, effective with people”.

Last but not least…you’ll probably feel better about yourself by showing more appreciation to those around you!  All good things.

So what’s holding you back?