Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Genuine Gratitude

Q.  As the holidays approach, it is important to genuinely appreciate our colleagues. How can we best show our appreciation?

A.  In many organizations, appreciation and recognition has been reduced to gimmicks such as point systems, gift cards, gold stars, and awards and certificates that are distributed at quarterly or annual meetings. But incentives are transactional, superficial, and often erode the very motivation leaders hope to inspire. 

Incentive have been a popular “best practice” for decades because leaders didn’t understand the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Incentives often create internal competition, resentment, manipulation, and fear. Those all- cause waste, complexity, and dysfunctional cultures. A popular practice especially in sales departments is to set targets and arbitrary numerical goals.

Genuine appreciation is not a program. It is a mindset and a system that shapes a healthy culture. It elevates humanity, creates joy in work, strengthens trust, and encourages people to contribute their ideas without fear of speaking up. 

When people feel respected, heard, and valued, their level of courage, creativity, and contribution increases. When people experience the joy in learning, working, and improving together, people are self-motivated. That’s where the power is! People experience a healthy, developing self-esteem. 

True recognition flows from understanding how people think, what they care about, and how their work contributes to a larger purpose. Leaders slow down tom observe and acknowledge the effort, progress, not just the results. 

Years ago, as a management team committed to transforming their leadership, they also questioned how to recognize people if they gave up incentives. Over time, a monthly gathering emerged that was open to all employees and all teams. At the meeting anyone or team that wanted to share information about their projects or progress, could share. Sometimes they were working mid-project, and they came to share their progress as well as their questions so they could gather fresh ideas from their colleagues. Some teams came to share and celebrate the end to a project. The gathering was an eye-opener, full of learning, and celebrating. Creating regular platforms for people to share their own successes, experiments, and learning builds recognition into a healthy culture. The gratitude and recognition aren’t merely leader-driven (top-down), but is community-generated. Gratitude is built horizontally, not just vertically. Over time, the strength, trust, and communication is reinforced. Another opportunity is to offer precise acknowledgment (rather than a vague, superficial comment.) Name and identify exactly what someone did and how it mattered. It demonstrates respect and authentic gratitude. It shows that leaders are paying attention. Some people prefer quiet recognition (even a hand-written notecard.) Others feel energized by group acknowledgement (team members support each other.) Leaders can open the communication and create psychological safety with simple, vulnerable comments such as, “I appreciate your patience or contributions as we experimented to solve this customer’s problem.” It’s helpful to surface issues and risks and encourage innovating without fear. Finally, leaders must abolish artificial ranking and rating systems and individual performance management programs that damage morale. Why? Those systems blame people for sub-optimal system results! Instead, replace them with meaningful process conversations. Always, leaders create dignity of the individual. Authentic appreciation costs nothing, but its impact is profound. Creating trust is the fuel for transformation. And leaders are accountable for transforming the organization.