After doing thousands of coaching hours with people at all levels of the organisation, I’ve discovered a secret. Can I share it with you?

The secret is that no matter who someone is or where they sit in the organisational structure, they need a sense of acknowledgment and appreciation.

Even when I speak with CEO’s, they talk about how they would really appreciate it if others saw the effort they put in and the work they did. I know that as a professional, you can work without it, but isn’t it nice when you get appreciated and acknowledged for the work that you do?

The three biggest excuses that I hear from managers that stops them from appreciating their staff are:

1. I can’t find the right time. (You’re never going to find the right time. Even if you acknowledge someone for something that they did two years ago, they will still appreciate it.)

2. I feel uncomfortable doing it. (If you feel uncomfortable doing it, that means you’re actually making the acknowledgment of someone else, about yourself. You need to focus on how they will feel.)

3. Isn’t paying them for what they do, enough? (Money is a reward on some level, but for you to lead someone and build trust, you need to develop a positive emotional connection with that person, which can happen through appreciating them.)

This week, choose one person in your team and have a think about what is something that they have done in the last two weeks that was of good quality but went unappreciated. Take two minutes this week to look them in the eye and say, “Thanks so much for the job that you did for this particular thing. The professionalism that you showed was outstanding. Well done.”

Who can you appreciate today?