Give "Thanks" Like the King Himself
It’s the worst when no one acknowledges your efforts, or offers a simple “Thank you!”. For many, words of affirmation are their love language. So it may sting more when they feel overlooked.
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It’s the worst when you have gone the extra mile, and no one acknowledges your efforts, or offers a simple “Thank you!”. For many, words of affirmation are their love language. So it may sting more when they feel overlooked.
If you are this person that is feeling unappreciated, to you I say, “I am sorry that has happened.”
However, I would also offer you (and other readers who are less impacted by a forgotten “thank you”) some advice - be the person who acknowledges others. Do it often and do it freely. Don’t hold back. Give praise 100x more than you ever receive.
Even if a simple compliment has little impact to you, it may be extremely impactful to others on your team. It may be what they need to keep giving their best, and to feel appreciated. It takes little effort, but it can go a long way, so long as it is heartfelt and genuine.
The Various Approaches
There are several ways to do this. Here are a few:
Tell them in person. This can be pre-planned, such as you taking a colleague out to lunch to specifically compliment them on a project they just completed. It can also be off-the-cuff, such as when you are chatting with a co-worker and the conversation develops in a way that you can casually weave in an acknowledgement. Depending on the person you are showing appreciation to, and the magnitude of the impact their efforts had, the way you approach the ‘in-person’ gratitude may be important.
If you are a boss, and an employee who has been with the company for 20+ years is retiring, it might come off inauthentic and careless to casually thank the employee during small chat at the water cooler. Conversely, if you take a colleague to lunch just to tell them ‘thank you’ for picking up the papers you printed from the copy machine, that may be seen as excessive. You will want to use your best judgement here.
Send a personalized email or Instant Message. Work can get busy. You may never run into some of your colleagues outside of meetings. Maybe you work in different departments, or you work in different cities. Meeting up with a co-worker to thank them in person may be tricky or nearly impossible. A good way to get over this is to intentionally write them an email or Slack message. If it feels appropriate, you can even ‘cc’ in their direct boss.
I have received some of these messages myself, and I have really appreciated it for multiple reasons. If I am having a rough day, I will sometimes read through them and remind myself of the value that I have provided to others within the company. If I am filling out my annual review, I will directly quote some of the comments I have been given to back up the claims that I made within the review. Lastly, if I am interviewing for a promotion, or new role with another company, I can recite these words to give weight to whatever question I am trying to address with the interviewer.Utilize your company’s recognition platform. Many companies have access to recognition programs through their intranet, HR system, or other 3rd-party platforms. Through these programs you can typically give a shout out to your colleagues anonymously or publicly. If you feel daunted about recognizing someone, send an anonymous recognition. If the person you want to recognize has already been recognized by another colleague, simply leave a comment below the original to add your personal input. Tools such as this may be a simple way to leave a comment without feeling over-bearing or confrontational.
Final Thoughts
Giving appreciation to others can go a long way. But just as important as showing your appreciation is understanding how the person receiving the acknowledgement likes to be praised. Some individuals like to be praised publicly. It gives them the confidence and acknowledgment they look for. Calling them out in a company-wide stand up may be exactly the right way to do it. Others, however, prefer to remain out of the spotlight. In these cases, you may want to keep all acknowledgment between the two of you. If you aren’t sure the person’s preference, simply ask. I have kept a record of my close team mates’ preferences at each of the last 3 companies where I worked. When I joined the company and got to know the team, I made a point to ask them. I then wrote it down in file that I could reference whenever I wanted to give them a shout out. You may find a similar approach will work for you.
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Get Your Game On!
Fastest time from last week’s puzzle: 28.45 seconds.
I completed today’s puzzle in 16.45 seconds. Think you can beat it?
(If you need the instructions on how to play, they are listed below 👇👇👇)
Puzzle:
I’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment below telling me how fast you solved the puzzle, and what your solution was. I’ll throw my solution in the comments as well in case you are having a hard time solving it.
I’ll give a shoutout in next week’s newsletter to the person with the fastest time.
Instructions
Purpose:
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sallie - do you remember the mathematical order of operations? If not, then you may need to refresh your memory because Krypto is a math card game where players aim to reach a target number using five cards drawn randomly from a deck. They must use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and/or division to combine the numbers on their cards to reach the target number.
Do you think you’re up for the task?
Rules:
You must use all 5 cards.
Positive numbers only - no negative numbers.
Integers only - no fractions.
Example:
Step 1: 19
(card) -
11
(card) =
8
Step 2: 8
(difference in step 1) / 2
(card) =
4
Step 3: 14
(card) / 7
(card) =
2
Step 4: 4
(quotient in step 2) + 2
(sum in step 3) = 6
The correct mathematical formula would look like this:
(19 - 11) / 2 + (14 / 7)
I apologize that I failed to post my solution:
18-14 = 4
10-4 = 6
6/3 = 2
7-2 = 5.