What Inspires Me Today - Accepting Praise

 Inspiration: Accepting Praise

Last week I began a new management training program at work.

The first session was about giving and receiving feedback... appropriate for all of us as we're going through our annual performance review period. 

In the session we talked about how to give feedback to those on your teams, but then also how to receive feedback.

One of the most important things I learned from therapy (when I was doing it regularly) was the need to receive love and praise... or rather embracing the concept that you are worthy of love and recognition.

In close personal relationships, it's easy to block receiving the love of your spouse, partner, parent, sibling... there are a host of reasons why people struggle with that, but the end result of all of them is that we push away the people we care for the most.  Sometimes it's a strong push, but usually it's a slow and subtle pressure that takes years to build to something we have to deal with. 

But when we allow ourselves to be loved, that love enters, is magnified, and can't help but return back into our world. We are positively changed, and in turn, we positively affect those we love.

The same is true beyond our personal relationships. 

The act of accepting praise and positive recognition from your boss, your colleagues, friends, and greater community is something we downplay, sometimes with a false sense of humility. We right off those who give us praise as either not knowing us well enough, or having ulterior motives, or just being kind.  

Whatever the reason, we are simply finding new ways to prevent ourselves from believing in our own abilities/capabilities/selves. We can't accept praise because we don't believe we deserve it. 

You Do.

Accepting praise and recognition for hard work goes so much farther than ourselves.

When we celebrate our accomplishments and victories, we not only celebrate ourselves, we provide a wealth of feedback to those around us. We light a path forward for others to follow, and when others follow, they experience growth and success in different ways, expanding that path of great work.

What Inspires Me Today - May 4, 2023

 Totally Missed That

It's annual Goals & Objectives setting time in our office and all of the managers are meeting with their staffs to go through how we did, and what we'd like to do. It's a process that is both daunting and rewarding. In the process this year I was unexpectedly reminded of the power of listening.

And not just listening with our ears.

People are giving us clues all the time to how they are feeling, what they are thinking and how they're generally moving through life. Someone can give an "All Clear" signal verbally but physically be shouting they are not ok.  Or more importantly, a collection of events over time all come together to paint a picture we can't see with a simple question and answer.

We need to care enough about each other to really pay attention to what's happening around us. 

This is not just for managers, but also for those reporting to a manager, or just in general each other. If we don't look beyond our limited perception, we can miss something valuable, if not critical to another person. And in the same way, if we don't speak up or simply acknowledge our own needs to others, we are inadvertently preventing ourselves from getting the support or change that we need.

Too often we spend our lives hindering our communication, blocking ourselves and others from seeing a full picture and experiencing everything that's possible for us. And we totally miss opportunities for our own growth and success.