When I was a young CEO, a woman reporting to me worked long hours one weekend preparing a draft report to show me first thing Monday morning. I came in at 7:00 AM and went through it with exacting standards and a critical eye, eager to provide my next set of instructions and get on with the rest of my day as quickly as possible. With the instructions delivered I indicated the meeting was over, and she got up to go. As she reached the door she turned back to me, and as a young woman only a year out of college speaking to the head of the company she offered this advice: “You know what the problem with you is, Bob? You don’t say ‘Thank you’ enough.” With that she left, closing the door behind her.
I’ve never forgotten that moment, nor my admiration for her directness and courage. And with time, I’ve learned to understand her advice within a broader context.
Great leaders need to demand the very best of their people. They set standards high, and then follow through by managing to those standards and delivering feedback and rewards consistent with results. Leaders need to be appropriately tough, and while they should offer every employee unconditional respect, they can’t afford to offer unconditional praise – unless they want their company to be mediocre.
At the same time, when results are delivered and standards are met, your employee deserves not only tangible rewards but personal appreciation. If you offer “thank you” whenever (but only whenever) it is deserved, it will be as motivational as the raise, bonus or promotion that is the other part of the equation.
Your employees are people, not machines, and they crave the approval of their boss. When you express your appreciation, sincerely and meaningfully, you put a smile on their face, a bounce in their step, and a turbo-charger in the quality and productivity of their next piece of work. The more you do it, the more you’ll find people trying to move mountains for you and your company. And best of all, gratitude like charity is even more gratifying for the grantor than the recipient: You’ll put a smile on your own face and a bounce in your own step.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go hunt down a woman from long ago to send her this post and say “thank you.”
