The Road Less Traveled: Part 2

Think of your day as a leader. Break it down. What do you spend most of your time doing? My guess is the ratio is similar to mine. You have multiple meetings scheduled where you will collaborate with colleagues around a variety of challenges or proactive strategies for the success of the organization. You will will spend time returning phone calls and responding to more emails than you realize or ever thought possible (if we actually counted them). And the day blows by. Your efforts contributed to the greater good and provided a high level of customer service to those who contacted you.

Share the Gift of Appreciation

What did we do for the individuals in the organization? How did we inspire someone in the day to reach higher levels based on a true feeling of value and respect? Sam Walton, founder of Walmart states, “Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.” If we analyze an 8 hour day, can we find 2 - 5 minutes to tell someone we appreciate them? Seriously, we will spend hours in meetings. We will spend hours on emails and creating reports. Can we find a couple minutes to simply tell someone they are appreciated? When we truly appreciate someone, but don’t tell them directly, we are wasting the opportunity to energize and inspire others. It’s like having a special gift for someone, and never giving it. Would we keep something valuable to someone, that costs nothing, and brings great joy, just because we can not find literally single digits of minutes in our day? No, we would excitedly bring it to them as often as possible! We would intentionally create these minutes.

In terms of leveraging time versus impact, there may be no comparison. Our Human Resource Services team provides support for over 4000 employees in the largest school district in Orange County. Recently, we have started a simple, yet powerful act. The Assistant and Associate Superintendents call principals from over 50 schools and simply ask, “who is doing an exceptional job that could use a thank you?”. That’s it. Then we call them and thank them. The person is informed their were chosen for reason x, y, and z to be recognized for their work. It’s not a program. It’s not systematic or predictable. It’s simple. It takes minutes, not hours. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Once people realize HR is not calling for a “bad reason”, they are humbled by the personal touch of the simple thank you and the fact their direct supervisor recommended them. What an honor! My supervisor was asked for anyone they could mention who was doing a great job and they chose me! They tell their friends. Their friends gain a different perspective on “the District”. “The District” appreciates them. Notices their work. “The District” cares and consists of people who personally care.

Foster Gratitude and Attitude

Are you struggling with your own inspiration and energy? Telling someone you appreciate them and value them is energizing. It fosters a feeling of gratitude and optimism in the person providing the positive feedback. You will spend all day helping others with their problems. Why not take a few minutes to energize yourself, while continuing to help others in this manner? If you value your employees, tell them. That’s it. The ratio of positive impact on a culture versus time spent is overwhelmingly high. Try it. You may not get to everyone, but you will get to some.

And for those and those they know, you have impacted lives in a powerfully positive way. Who will you call first?

Tim Brooks, Rich Montgomery, and Robert Miller work in Human Resource Services for one of the largest districts in California. As speakers with a variety of universities, workshops, and symposiums, they deliver an authentic, practical message resonating with teachers, administrators and community members.