Giving Appreciation

Mary Kay Ashe, founder of the giant cosmetics company encouraged all her employees to pretend that people they met would have a sign around their neck saying, “I am the most important person in the world.” Giving appreciation to our team is one way we can make them feel valued and important. After all, how many of us woke up this morning thinking, “I just get too much positive feedback!” Here’s a tool to elevate morale and build your team.

Appreciation Exercise: Ideal for groups up to 20 – distribute blank index cards and ask each person to write their name on the card and underneath, 3 qualities I admire in you….then instruct them to pass the card to someone in the group and pass it again. When they receive the card, ask each person to look at the name on the card and think of 3 qualities or personality traits they display at work and give an example of how one of those traits is seen on a daily basis or adds value to the team. Give them 3-4 minutes to write on the card, then ask for a volunteer to stand and read their card. The pass it to the person and then that person reads their card out loud and so on.

This exercise can be conducted with committees, boards, work groups, sales teams, etc. The key is that the group has knowledge of one another and can give real examples. You may want to review the strengths listed in Now Discover Your Strengths to give them some ideas of traits to identify in their team members. Required for Success: Sincerity, genuineness, honesty and NO SARCASM. (One of my pet peeves, can you tell?)