I Will Appreciate Others

How do you feel when your colleague comes to your desk and says it loudly - "You did a good Job" buddy. You know that it may not necessarily convert into monetary benefit , still you feel valuable and probably will return the same compliment to him at appropriate time. When your organization recognizes you for your work , when your manager appreciates you in a large meeting, when you are recognized at home for making a good dish , how do you feel ? Surely the words of appreciation once spoken , bring lots of positive energy both sides.

Then what is stopping you from appreciating others ?  The mindset is the main stopper in appreciating others :

-  He/She may get advantage like monetary benefits , I will be left behind in appraisals.
-  How can I accept that the other person is doing better than me , after all I am the best, no one else can go past me.
-  I never got appreciation for my good work, so how can I appreciate others.
-  What appreciation, Its part of the job, that's what they are paid for.
-  He/She will become more respectful than me.

I did an experiment on Appreciation to know how does appreciating others bounces back on me and how does the team behaves with me. I chose my team , every Thursday  I appreciated 2 colleagues for their work in front of the whole group including the director, giving specific reason as why I wanted to give a thumbs up to them even for the work that was part of their job.If I took help from other team, I ensured that the person was recognized in front of his manager and the group. I continued this practice for 2 months. I observed 3 main behaviors from the team :

1) Most of the people (approx 80%)  whom I appreciated felt great and they became my good friend. They probably felt favored and today I can get any work done from them on priority any time , whatever their priorities be. They started spreading good words about me, I was surprised when I got the same feed back from my boss. My boss continued noticing that I was spreading positive energy in the team.
2) A few (approx 10%) returned me the appreciation in front of the group by appreciating me.
3) Remaining (10%) were those who were reluctant and kept mum , probably they are still in surprise state of mind.

You yourself can interpret the above results,who was the ultimate gainer.

I have seen people appreciating in isolation in a closed room ,while when its time to pull legs , its an open war. Its a blunder. Refrain yourself from such practice. You will surely make lots of enemies. Remember, appreciation , to be meaningful , should happen open-hearted and always in public , however feedback should be given one-on-one , in a closed room.

So what are you waiting for , Try this today : Appreciate your wife for the food she prepared , Appreciate your husband for executing his responsibilities well, Appreciate your kid just like that  and feel the difference. Appreciate your colleagues for their good work in front of the team and see them transforming into your friends, after all , who doesn't want to be appreciated in this world.