Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: appreciation

  • Loving Monday: Inserting a Warm Word in a Cold World

    loving_mondayIt would probably catch everyone off guard.

    Out of the blue, or so it would seem, you blurt out, “You really know your stuff. Thank you for all you contribute.”

    Or when she’s not looking, you sneak up and announce, “I couldn’t do this without you.”

    Even more inexplicably, you confess, “This team is one of the things I love most about this job.”

    It can be a cold world. Tight deadlines. Tighter margins. Nasty vendors. Nastier clients. And a tough economy to boot.

    We are busy. We are stressed. We are juggling multiple responsibilities, and it’s taking our full focus not to drop anything.

    It’s into this cold world that a warm word can make the difference between surviving and thriving.

    To hear that one’s ideas are appreciated, that one’s contribution is recognized, or that one’s presence is valued can transform a stressed, weary, minimal effort into an energetic and passionate engagement.

    We get caught up in the busyness and stress of the job’s intensity ourselves. It is easy to forget that people run on more than a paycheck to keep their motivation and energy levels up.

    Yes, it would be nice if someone directed a warm word your way. In the mean time, though, take the initiative yourself and insert a warm word into someone else’s otherwise cold world.

    Looking for a simple structure to guide your words? Download a copy of our “Say Thank You and Mean It” tool. (click here)

    Let me know what happens!

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

    Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.

  • Loving Monday: From Occasional to Ordinary

    loving_mondayGet up right now and walk over to a co-worker and thank them for being a part of the team.

    Don’t pause. Don’t hesitate. Don’t over-think this one. Simply go let someone know that you appreciate them and then come back and finish reading this post.

    How was it? Did they look at you with bewildered astonishment? Did they smile and return an awkward thank-you?

    I‘d love to see a movement where expressions of appreciation at work went from being occasional to being ordinary.

    There doesn’t need to be a reason to express appreciation. In fact, the element of surprise is one of the best parts.

    What if work became the sort of place where one could expect to be appreciated and valued? Hearing things like, “Thank you” and “I’m glad you’re here” would be ordinary experiences instead of isolated rarities.

    What would it be like?

    Would would it be like to know that whatever your mood, whatever your mistake, whatever the complications of the day, there would be an atmosphere (more…)

  • Clippings from Don: Gratitude Work-Out

    “Drop and give me 50 push-ups and 25 thank-you’s!”

    If you’re looking for a new exercise routine, try gratitude.

    Melinda Beck offers a wonderful peek at research demonstrating the health benefits of expressing appreciation and gratitude in the Wall Street Journal. (Click here for the full article.)

    From her article, “Philosophers as far back as the ancient Greeks and Romans cited gratitude as an indispensable human virtue, but social scientists are just beginning to study how it develops and the effects it can have.”

    She even suggests seven ideas for incorporating thanks into your lifestyle if regular gratitude feels like a stretch.

    In our culture we experience much moral reasoning as a negative, coercive force to be resisted. To hear that we “should” be grateful or we “ought to” count our blessings like the imposition of someone else’s values upon our own instead of the wise experience of those who have gone before.

    So we ignore the ancients whenever their advice annoys us. Until, that is, science corroborates their “knowledge.”

    And so it is now with gratitude. Thankfully (pun unavoidably appropriate) science demonstrates specific and concrete health benefits to being thankful.

    Read the full article. Begin your gratitude work-out today.

    Voracious reader friend Don Silver always has an eye out for what interests me. Clippings from Don is a column where I pass on some of these articles, stories and resources to you.

  • Quote to Consider: As Good As Sex

    quote-to-consider“The fun of being alive is realizing you have a talent and you can use it every day so it grows stronger…. And if you’re in an atmosphere where this talent is appreciated instead of just tolerated, why, it’s just as good as sex.”

    Lou Centlivre

  • Question of the Week #5

    Who would benefit from you verbalizing your appreciation today?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Question of the Week

    Who would benefit from you verbalizing your appreciation today?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Appreciation Fuels Volunteers

    “Thank you. Thank you for being who you are. Thank you for showing up fully and bringing yourself to our shared mission. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you.”

    Its value seems obvious, but appreciation of one’s volunteers too often gets overlooked in the busyness of our non-profit efforts. Make yourself one promise today. Promise yourself never to let another day go by without finding a way to express thanks to those who work alongside you.

    Remember from our latest podcast with Rodney Walker, that a core source of motivation for volunteers is the opportunity to contribute and make a difference. Expressing gratitude is a way to communicate the specifics of how someone does just that.

    pdf iconFor simple guidelines on the what’s and how’s of a meaningful “Thank You,” download my Say Thank You and Mean It worksheet.

    On your side,

    – Karl