Communicate What You Appreciate

I am lucky. I work with someone who sends these types of emails every day: 

     “You’re the best. — thanks for thinking of this for us!”
     “I love how you are approaching this 🤗 “
     “Really great material here!”
     “This is great and you are awesome (but I know you already know that ;-)”

My colleague, Chuck, really knows how to use the Collaborating Skill: Appreciating Others. His constant flow of appreciation helps the team feel valued and stay engaged. 

While other people – myself included – know we can achieve more with the help of others, too often we take those others for granted. Sometimes it is our partner who is doing the dishes or the laundry or caring for kids/pets/aging parents. Maybe it is the work colleagues who provide all types of support—from taking out the trash to updating the website to making coffee to giving invaluable input for our work. Too often, we fail to take the few moments that Appreciating Others requires.  As our tagline says, “Communicate what you appreciate!” The research is clear (see below):  appreciating others makes them feel valued and thus increased their contribution. 

Appreciating Others can be even more powerful with those who we find challenging. If we can find one or two things we appreciate about them, it increases our ability to collaborate.  

Appreciating Others has one last benefit:  it makes us FEEL better. if you need a lift, spend 10 minutes of your day telling other people how you value them. You won’t regret it!