After a virtual short course I led today on The Power of Acknowledgment, I received this communication from attendee Tim Sosbe:

“I heard a great story once on the power of giving credit where credit is due, and using praise as a motivational tool. This story came from Ken Blanchard, the internationally recognized coach and thought leader. During a speaking engagement, Ken shared a story from a CEO client of his. When asked how he deals with outcomes, the CEO told Ken words to this effect: ‘When something goes wrong, I close my door and ask myself what could I have done differently to make this better. When things go right, I open my door and look around and ask myself who I can give the credit to.’

I don’t have to know who that CEO is to know he/she must be highly successful. That kind of enlightened attitude and simple appreciation is worth more than any paycheck I’ve ever received.”

Tim Sosbe

General Manager, Training Industry Webinars, www.trainingindustry.com/webinars

Editor, Training Industry Quarterly e-zine,

www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Training Industry, Inc.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Tim. What a wonderful story and great validation of the power of acknowledgment. We could certainly all model our behavior after that of this enlightened CEO. I wish I knew his name so I could acknowledge him! I love what Tim wrote about this kind of appreciation being worth more than any paycheck. In fact, I have heard acknowledgment described as the “double paycheck.” We can all help create a culture of acknowledgment in our companies, and the ripple effect can be phenomenal.