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The power of acknowledgment

You’ve heard me go on and on and on about needing great people around you and in your life to be able to do great work:  it’s not a solo act.

One of the subtleties of management is how to thank and acknowledge people for the work they do.

It’s pretty obvious when it’s not happening.  You’ve experienced it yourself, when you beaver away and you hear nothing back as to how you’re doing.  I’m sure you don’t do that when the roles are reversed.  (Well, only occasionally).

The next step us is when you acknowledge people for what they’ve done:

Thanks for doing this, Sue

That’s a great report you’ve written, Ron

That’s all good.  Don’t not do that.

But there’s a final step. one when you get to the heart of who the person is and the impact they’ve had on you.  And let me give you a great example.

Naomi Dunford runs IttyBiz, a brilliant website and blog for “micro entrepreneurs”, folks with 5 people or less in their business.

I’ve recently bumped into her and talked to her a bit.  Her blog is fantabulous, as it is provocative and punchy and inspiring and the embodiment of “find your voice”.

Here’s what she wrote about me yesterday:

Michael from Box of Crayons is THE SHIT, and he came along at just the right time in my life. When I was ready to sell this business to the first person I ran across with a free five grand on their Visa, I got the Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun in my mailbox and pretty seriously changed my mind. Go poke around — there’s no one thing I can recommend above anything else, but the little postcards are pretty freaking cool to start with.

And this totally made my day.  For one thing, she talks about me and who I am.  For another, she talks about what I did and how it made an impact in her life.  That’s real, specific and useful information.

And if by any chance you wondering what to get people for the holidays, you should read Naomi’s IttyBitty Gift Guide.  It’s full of really great stuff … and it’s a treat alone to read why Naomi likes it.

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