Episode 22: The Power of Recognition

Let's think about those who need it most...

The other day while out for lunch at a restaurant, we had an especially cheerful, genuine, and kind waitress. My oldest daughter noticed what great energy the waitress had. I encouraged my daughter to tell the waitress what a great job she did at the end of our meal.

I expected a simple “thank you” on the waitress’s end, but instead she was stopped in her tracks, teared up, and thanked my daughter profusely for the acknowledgement. It made me cry just watching it! The waitress told us that her day was made, and she was so grateful to hear those words.

That moment made me think more about the idea of recognition and how often we might not get it (or give it) in our day-to-day. We all go about our days doing the best that we can.

How much could it change our mindset when someone recognizes the good work we do?

I remember in my first couple of design jobs out of school, I wanted so badly for my boss to recognize the work I had done or give me some sort of indication on whether s/he thought I was doing a good job. Most of the time, I had no idea if my bosses even liked me or not. That experience made me pay extra attention to giving employees recognition a decade later when I had a team of my own.

Even when my kids simply thank me for making them dinner or driving them to all their activities (something I would do everyday anyway), it always feels nice to be recognized and thanked. How much better would we all feel if someone recognized when we did a great job or thanked us for our extra effort?

Who are the people that we interact with all the time that could use
more recognition in their day?

Make a list of people you see on a daily or weekly basis that you could get into the habit of giving positive acknowledgement to. Once you start thinking about these people, recognizing and praising their job well done will become a regular habit.

Here are some that I always have on my recognition list:
-School bus, city bus, and airport shuttle drivers
-Delivery people (mail person, UPS, FedEx, etc.)
-Anyone in the food service industry (barista, server, busser, cashier, etc.)
-Fitness instructor (How often do people just leave the class and never thank the instructor?)
-Anyone who works outside in the sun all day
-Teachers (And teach your kids to thank their teachers at the end of every day. it means so much to them!)

So, I challenge you to take a look at those who surround you (both those you know and those you don’t) and see how you can take the extra step to recognize a job well done and to tell that person so! It will change their day (and yours), I promise!

P.S. I have previously sent these newsletters out on Fridays, but I find that lots of Substackers also do Fridays, and I wanted to mix it up for you. Let me know if you like these mid-week instead of end of week!

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Bubbles image created by me with Midjourney AI.