The Lost Art of Appreciation

Discover the art in the language of appreciation. Even in the companies where appreciation is deemed important, efforts of expressing appreciation are often lost! Find out more why appreciation in the workplace is so important to the health of your employees and your business. Lest we forget, there are leaders that have made the thank you the “stuff of legends.” With lasting effect, they’ve built bridges, cemented loyalties and inspired others with by their written words.

 Nelson Mandela embodied the grace upon which the letter of appreciation is best exemplified. The cynic in us may argue that the real purpose behind a thank you note is to advance an agenda. Politicking for a job, schmoozing a client or commending someone’s efforts solely for personal gain. My response is how many of your employees will be talking about the note that you sent to them 18 years from now. That is the essence of the right habits that we should be instilling in our organizations – let alone our children.

Guest Host: JMJ Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Laurie Brunner.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to safety talks, JMJ associates, this week's guest host, JMJ chief sales and marketing officer Laurie Bruner, acknowledgement, appreciation too on a door and words that pack a punch. It's the thank you. This powerful message of appreciation is well on its way to becoming well, an unappreciated art form. Often we forget these very words as we raised from one meeting to another, we drowned in our emails and manage the relentless stress for results. The funny thing is that an act of kindness has the power to change results and further the outcomes that we were working so hard for in the first place. The sincere thank you can bring a smile. It captures a moment and really can make a difference. Yet it seems that the thank you letter or the email gets prioritized down on our to do list even than taking the time out for the Pat on the back. This is to the point where the next generation of our leaders scarcely know that a handwritten note was once a standard of professionalism and good followup. Miss manners would be horrified. We are careening toward the brink of a cultural extinction of gratitude, lest we forget. There are leaders that have made the thank you the stuff of legends with lasting effect. They've built bridges. They've cemented loyalties and inspired many of us with their written words. Nelson Mandela embodied the grace upon which the letter of appreciation is best exemplified for 27 years from his prison cell on Robin Island. He carefully mailed his allotted number of letters written with powerful words that could escape the prying eyes of his censors. In his book, conversations with myself, Mandela wrote to Sheena Dunkin, a white middle class woman from Johannesburg. His words were these, dear mrs Dunkin, the ideals we cherish, our fondest dreams and Fervin hopes may not be realized in our lifetime, but that is beside the point, the knowledge that in your day you did your duty and lived up to the expectations of your fellow man is in itself a rewarding experience and a magnificent achievement. Can you imagine the impact of Mandela's words in that letter and the impact that they had on mrs Dunkin in 1985 as she was building a coalition of white African women in support of black South Africans, and when Mandela was in serious decline, South Africans thanked him back. One 16 year old girl placing her. Thank you at a makeshift Strine at the Mediclinic heart hospital wrote, dear mr Mandela, unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to meet you, but even in the early stages of my life, I decided that I wanted to be a caring, loving person, just like you. PS, I'm Afrikaans. The power of appreciation goes both ways. President George H w Bush was also a prolific letter writer. He sent notes, cards, letters, short and long, serious or humorous to honor friendships and encourage others even to those on the other side of the political aisle to president Clinton who defeated him in the 1992 presidential election. He writes the following after their joint hurricane Katrina efforts. Dear bill, this note is to simply let you know that I so appreciated your words about our relationship. About our friendship. It was from your heart. I hope you know, I feel the same way. How easy it is to jot down just a few lines and so to the point of creating an indelible, never forgettable impression. Our daily activities do not have this arc of history, but our words can have similar lasting effect. Recently a colleague was talking about the importance of acknowledgement and appreciation at a group meeting. One employee who rarely spoke up started nodding and smiling and right there and then he took out his wallet and from it he unfolded a tattered, well warned lined piece of paper. It was a thank you note, clearly torn from a spiral bound notebook that he'd received from a supervisor in 1995 he had carried it with him every day for 18 years. We keep these things, they mean something. The cynic in us may argue that the real purpose behind it, an acknowledgement or a thank you note is to advance an agenda. We might think it'd be because they're politicking for a job schmoozing a client or commending somebody efforts solely for a personal gain. My response is, how many of your employees will be talking about the note that you sent to them 18 years from now? That is the essence of the right habits that we should be stilling in our organizations, our leaders, let alone our children. My 20 year old son said, but we do say thank you. Yes. I said, when was the last time you actually wrote a thank you note? Silence. Okay, I get your point, mom. Let's break the cycle of our cultural demise. Remember to say thank you to the waiter. Acknowledge the airline agent. Appreciate the checkout lady at the grocery store. Stop and recognize the job well done. Have an unsung employee. Send an email of appreciation. Better yet. Let's pick up our pens and jot down a few words. No agenda required. Just the lasting pleasure of making somebody's day. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 6:38

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