Harnessing The Power of Appreciation

Does harnessing the power of recognition help boost your team performance?
Yes it does.
That's the conclusion drawn from a year-long survey conducted by journalist Janice Kaplan. 90% of people surveyed said that a grateful boss was more likely to be successful.
For instance, throughout his tenure, Doug Conant ex-CEO of the Campbell Soup Company, sent more than 30,000 handwritten thank you notes. When Conant was in hospital recovering from a serious car accident, employees across the globe reciprocated his acts of recognition by sending him get-well notes.
Showing appreciation is part of a leader's job, “...but recognising it, saying thank you, letting them know that it wasn't for nought really can go a very far way,” says Kaplan.
Source: Businessinsider

Call to Action
In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg challenged himself to write a thank-you not everyday.

Is that a challenge worth undertaking?

Challenging Yourself

Since 2009, Mark Zuckerberg has set himself an annual personal challenge. Starting off with a personal challenge of ‘Wear a tie every day’, he progressed to ‘Learning Mandarin’ and ‘Read a new book every two weeks’ - among others. For 2016, he has himself the personal challenge to build an AI assistant that would let him control music, lights and temperature using his voice and alert him to anything might need his attention in his daughter's room. Along the way,  he has also set himself mini challenges like changing his baby's nappy in 20 seconds.

Business Point
Setting yourself challenges which require grit, determination and perseverance, gives the drive to succeed both on personal as well as business fronts.

Picture source: Fast Company