On a recent trip to Southern California I had the opportunity to visit with my cousin, a first-grade teacher. I have all the time admired her confident skill, consuming creativity, and abundant enthusiasm for her work so it was a real thrill for me to see her excellence acknowledged.
Every year, San Diego County chooses 10 Teachers of the Year from among the 26,000 group school teachers in the county. This is not a popularity contest but rather a true recognition of the best teachers in San Diego. Each of the 43 finalists has to complete 7 essays that discover issues such as their beliefs about teaching, where the profession is heading, advice they would give new teachers as well as request about their successes and failures. Pretty introspective and reflective stuff and right on not something completed in a few minutes.
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It all culminates in a black-tie gala broadcast live on Tv with celebrity hosts, video clips of the finalists in their classrooms, interviews with their colleagues and students as well as heart-warming acceptance speeches. Although I watched the gala on Dvd, I felt the excitement, pride and energy that was present in the auditorium as the teaching community came together to recognize and celebrate teaching excellence. And, as I have known all along, Wendy truly is a great trainer - she was superior as one of the 10 Best Teachers of the Year.
The impact on her has been significant. Not only was it personally rewarding to get the group acknowledgment of her dedication and commitment to an often difficult and often thankless job, she also was able to experience a personal renewal and re-invigoration for her work. She has been teaching for a quarter century and much has changed while that time. What she learned while this process is that more than ever she loves being in the classroom and she knows she still has much to contribute, not only to her students but also as a mentor for new teachers just starting their careers.
What can we learn about celebrating accomplishments from the teachers of San Diego? While not all recognition needs to be in the form of a black-tie gala, how might our teams and organizations benefit from celebrating and acknowledging the contributions of the best among us? Which of your colleagues positively cares about their work and all the time does their best no matter the circumstances? What might be the impact if you publicly acknowledged your colleague who makes a real variation to the success of the team? What has been the most memorable recognition at work of your skills and contributions- what made it so memorable? Why don't we spend more time telling our colleagues what they do well and why we appreciate them?
As humans we are wired to need attention; if we aren't getting it we tend to either consciously or subconsciously alter our behaviour until we get the attentiveness we crave. Investing time and energy encouraging the best in others is one of the simplest, most prudent and efficient ways to enhance the doing of others.
What could be different for your team if everybody normally gave acknowledgement and recognition when it was deserved? What variation might this have on innovation, commitment and morale? Who on your team deserves to be recognized for their excellence?
Effective recognition needs to be personal and specific. Giving encouragement and feedback is more than saying "Good job." It needs to be definite to what they did and why it was a gift to the team. "You led a great meeting. It was a difficult schedule with lots of opportunity for things to get off track. I positively admired how you helped everybody focus on the prominent issues so they didn't get lost in things that aren't critical to the team's goals this month." Not only does this recognize what the someone did, it helps reinforce the behaviours that contribute to the success of the team.
Make celebration fun. Celebrating an achievement doesn't have to be a gala affair but it should be fun. I can remember 'kidnapping' my team when we reached an prominent target; instead of the scheduled team meeting I loaded them into my car and took everybody for a gelato. The fun part was that no one knew where we were going or what I was up to until we arrived at our destination. It was a memorable and unexpected way to say thanks for the hard work they had put in to make sure we met our project timeline.
Use recognition to enhance relationships. No doubt there is someone you work with that seems to trigger all your buttons. Just thinking about them makes you groan inwardly. Try turning the relationship colse to by looking things to answer about this person. What are their interests beyond the office? What can they be counted on to do particularly well? What expertise do they contribute that helps the team? My guess is that if you make an attempt to change your perspective and learn more about them you will find their confident attributes. Now, here's your challenge. Find an opportunity to publicly answer them. I promise it will be a gift for both of you.
Acknowledgment and recognition aren't just a leadership skills - all relationships benefit from celebrating accomplishments and achievements. Celebrate abundantly and frequently!
a fantastic read In Praise of Celebration
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