Great Job: Giving Compliments

Remember the times when you were young playing some sort of sports activity? Basketball, soccer, football, just about anything. You would turn to the stands to find out that your dad or parents are watching you closely to see if you can do something dramatic.
I remember playing soccer in school back in the day, and it motivated me enough to play better every time I saw my dad make it to the game. I would play much better, concentrated and do something for a change. There were times when I just couldn’t do anything. Following the game returning home, I would be upset walking straight to the dinner table and discussed what happened during the game while having dinner with my parents.
We would talk what strategies might have been better. What could I do for my team to improve. I have it my all but coach was always upset at us for not doing what we thought was enough. Further more at the end of our discussion I felt unmotivated. I didn’t want to do anything anymore. Something however struck me, my father would always compliment me on how great I played out there. He didn’t make it sound as if he just threw it out there, but it felt like he said I was still looked well playing out there (what I think). These compliments he would say felt great. A vast majority of these are part of the reason why I was still motivated to work on my gameplay the following day.
If we apply this to our personal lives and in the work place, we build great bonds with the people we work with. We become a team! What I noticed was that in the work environment, often we never receive a compliment. A co-worker I once worked with said to me he never received a compliment for his work in four years. I was speechless. Great man, seems very loyal to his work and great to talk to. But I wanted to know why hasn’t he received any compliments. Was the manager that selfish being not able to compliment people around him? It’s interesting I was reading an article that most people haven’t been applauded to or received compliments since graduation. But they say “you don’t understand, I don’t have time for that.” No, you do have time for that. It doesn’t take that much time of your day to go out and compliment someone. Complimenting someone not only will make them feel better at what they’re doing, but also it will motivate them to be even better. They are confident, they have a clear understanding and they will get motivated at what they do. It’s not that difficult. When we compliment we build our relationship even better.
When was the last time you complimented someone at your workplace. Maybe your team never heard you compliment them since they were first hired and upon hearing great job the first three days on the job, they never heard of it again. Giving compliments makes us feel better about ourselves. We build stronger trust and a leader needs trust. It’s part of the process. Compliments are key. How do you compliment people? Your staff and personally people you meet. Any given thoughts you have or questions regarding the post.