Good Leaders Recognize People; Great Leaders Appreciate Them

Every leader of people understands that recognizing employees when they are deserving is motivating to the employee. Often, that recognition is associated with a monetary reward - a gift certificate, a pay raise, a bonus check, or best of all, a promotion. While there is nothing wrong with any these rewards, what differentiates great leaders from ordinary leaders, or even good leaders, is a clear understanding by the former that appreciating your employees is fundamentally different from recognizing them. Good leaders recognize employees; great leaders appreciate them. Below, I highlight a few simple ways leaders can show real appreciation towards employees in the course of a normal work day. However, before I list them, we should understand?why appreciation is a much higher form of gratitude than recognition.??

Let's start by looking at their definitions in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

• Recognize: to acknowledge formally
• Appreciate: to value or admire highly

According to?vocabulary.com, "If you APPRECIATE something, you RECOGNIZE its value." So, to recognize is to acknowledge existence. To appreciate is to attach value to the existence. But why is the assignment of value important??Isn't recognition alone enough? To answer this question, let's turn to Abraham Maslow's groundbreaking?work?on the hierarchy of basic human needs,?"A Theory of Human Motivation", which he published in the journal Psychological Review in 1943.[1] In his paper, Maslow?theorized humans have five basic needs. Esteem is one of them. In Maslow's own words, "All people in our society (with a few pathological exceptions) have a need or desire for a stable, firmly based, (usually) high evaluation of themselves, for self-respect, or self-esteem, and for the esteem of others. By firmly based self-esteem, we mean that which is soundly based upon real capacity, achievement and respect from others.?Satisfaction of the self-esteem need leads to feelings of self-confidence, worth, strength, capability and adequacy of being useful and necessary in the world."

Essentially, Maslow is suggesting we all?(with a few pathological exceptions)?have a basic psychological (i.e. emotional) need for high self-esteem that is derived from our capacity, achievements and the ensuing respect we get from others. With this self-esteem comes feelings of self-value and self-worth. Maslow is not describing recognition. What Maslow is describing is appreciation. We all have a basic need to feel appreciated.??

Below I list seven (non-monetary based) ideas that will demonstrate to your employees that you value and appreciate them. All of them are simple and easy to do. Based on my experience, all will do wonders at making your employees feel appreciated. If you have an eighth, ninth and/or tenth idea, please share them with a comment to this post.

1. Say thank you.

Saying thank you with true sincerity communicates, "You are important to me", "I value you", "I appreciate you" and by far is the easiest thing a leader can do to show appreciation. Just?take a few minutes out of your busy day to make a congratulatory phone call to a deserving over achiever, write a hand written thank you note to the team member who delivered superior results, or walk over to your deserving employee's office to verbally thank them in person for a job well done. When done right, saying these simple one syllable words can have an enormous emotional impact of appreciation within the mind of the recipient.

2. Acknowledge them publicly.

When someone on your team does something extraordinary, acknowledge them publicly. First, this shows the entire organization the value you, as the leader, place on the accomplishment. Second, it gives the employee?visible credit for the achievement. Third, because you have done so publicly, it gives others a license to recognize?the?employee for his or her accomplishment. Give public acknowledgement and you create a situation that can lead to a higher order emotional level of appreciation.??

3. Challenge them with meaningful responsibilities.

Anyone can do trivial tasks. If you want to show you appreciate an employee, give him or her work that challenges them.?Being selected to lead an important project or solve a complex problem?can evoke a sense of pride, importance, and value in the employee. This gesture will show your employee that you trust their judgment, their capability, and their ability to deliver stellar results. Assign an important and challenging task, and you will not only motivate your employee, you will make a very large deposit in your employee's emotional bank account.?

4. Proactively seek their guidance.

Imagine the emotional feelings of pride and appreciation your star employee will experience if you were to walk into his or her office and say, "Chris, let me run something by you." That something could be a decision you are considering or slides for a presentation you will soon?give. Chris will all but certainly experience feelings of importance and value. But, guess what??There is a benefit for you, too. In addition to getting a second objective opinion, you will get insight into Chris's thinking, thought processes, and judgment - which brings me to my fifth point.

5. Mentor them.

Taking on an employee as mentee delivers a significant psychological message to that employee. It says, "I am genuinely interested in you", "I think you are worth my time", "I have a vested interest in your development and success." This gesture could lead to increased feelings of self-validation, greater feelings of appreciation and possibly even improved self-worth.?

6. Be there when they need you

Everyone - even the best employee - needs help from time to time. When this moment arrives, give your employee your time. For instance, even when you have an immediate deadline, give them a few minutes. When your phone rings during your one-on-one with the employee, do not answer it. Let's consider the deadline scenario and the impact of the two possible interactions.?

• Employee: "Knock, knock, Boss do you have a minute?"
• Boss: "Actually, I don't. I need to get some information to Big Boss. Let me find you later?"

Compare that interaction to the following:

• Employee: "Knock, knock, Boss do you have a minute?"
• Boss: "Sure, come on in. Let's make it a quick minute, however. I need to get some information to Big Boss. What can I do for you?"

The second interaction will have a much more positive impact on the employee. Even if you have to tell the employee after 3 minutes that you need to get back to getting Big Boss's information, the employee will have a greater feeling of appreciation because you devoted some of?your precious time to listen in a time of need.?

?7. Allow them to challenge you.

Let me clarify what I mean here. By challenge, I do not mean allow them to vehemently disagree with you in a room of 20 people that includes your Big Boss. There is a time and place for an employee to air?such concerns and this is not it. However, you should encourage your employees to openly share their opinions with you even if they are not 100% in line with your own. Doing so reinforces the value you have for them and validates them as a person and a professional.?

To sum, don't make the mistake of confusing recognition with appreciation. They are different.?Recognition acknowledges existence and addresses the physical self. Appreciation assigns value and addresses the emotional self. As we all have a basic psychological need for high self-esteem and self-respect, showing appreciation will, on an emotional level, provide confidence, value and self-worth to your employees, and thereby inspire?them reach their full potential. For the great leader, this is the end game - inspiring your employees to greatness!

Reference

1. Maslow, A. H. (1943). "A Theory of Human Motivation". Psychological?Review. 50 (4):370–96. Retrieved from?https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm

Thank you for reading my article. Good Leaders Recognize People; Great Leaders Appreciate Them?is the 6th article from Dr. Michael Edwards. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe to my Newsletter,?Leadership Explained,?to get notified when I publish a new article. Please 'share' this article with your network, click 'like', and/or leave a comment.?Click 'Follow' if you wish to follow me on LinkedIn. Have a look at my other Leadership Explained articles by clicking here.