Hi Everyone ~

I trust the year is getting off to a great start. My first "Ultimate Possibilities for Women" workshop will be held in the Fraser Valley. It will occur on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at the Best Western Hotel (Oak Room) in Chilliwack, from 1900-2200 hours. Cost is $29/person and if you bring a friend it's 2 for $39. All participants will receive a participant manual, take-away tools and a fun, interactive evening.

Guarantee - You will break through limiting beliefs that are preventing you from getting what you want out of life.

Coffee, tea and water will be provided. You probably already know, this will be a phenomenal event. Tickets will go on sale March 1, 2009 and are limited due to room size and the space required for the workshop. Ticket enquiries can be sent to me through my website.

Committed to helping people step out of the ordinary,

Barb Langlois

Contact Me

Article ~

As the old couplet says:
"Once I did bad, and that I heard ever...
Twice I did good, but that I heard never."

An Ounce of Appreciation,
Oops, I mean, 30 Grams of Appreciation
(Yes, I looked up the conversion.)

by Barb Langlois

We’re all seeking it. Did you give some today? Did you receive some yesterday? I’m talking about appreciation. Appreciation for what we do or something we’ve done. It is one of the most universal of human needs, ranking right up there with food, shelter and clothing, in my opinion.

Receiving appreciation is one of those things that encourage us to stand a little taller, smile a little broader and feel a little more confident, knowing that someone has noticed what we’ve done. Recently, in one of my workshops, a CNL shared with the group she had received a handwritten note from one of the nurses she worked with. In the note, the nurse thanked the CNL for the support she had provided throughout a particularly difficult shift. With tears in her eyes, the CNL whispered, “I have never received anything like that before. No-one has ever told me they appreciate what I do.” Wow! Read that again. “No-one has ever told me they appreciate what I do.” Oh my goodness, how often has that happened on nursing units and in offices? Do you receive appreciation for what you do?

A few years ago, I was a manager in the community with a very large portfolio. Before I even began in my position I had heard about one particular nurse and all the grief she caused people. I decided I didn’t want to have an adversarial relationship with this nurse before I even met her, so I disregarded what people told me and decided I would see the best in her. Naive? Perhaps. Now I must admit as time went on, I received a barrage of complaints about her. It wasn’t easy supporting my strategy, but I persevered (that stubborn personality trait comes in handy, at times). I searched hard for things she had done well and when I found one, I would go to her office and share it with her. I did this as often as I could – at least once a week. Slowly she started taking initiative and responsibility for the work she did. She began consulting colleagues on difficult client cases. The complaints I received about her slowly began to decrease. She even came to my office and told me about an incident where she had acted inappropriately. I thanked her for telling me and then gave her guidance on how to repair the relationship. Other people in the office began to notice a difference in her. When I gave her performance review, I focused on what she did well and then gave her 1-2 tips for improvement (as I did for everyone). She cried in the performance review and said, “I was never told, in the past, of anything I did right. Everyone always told me what I did wrong. It got so bad that I couldn’t do anything right. When you started pointing out what I did well, I started to feel better. I wanted to get better at what I did.” 30 grams of appreciation does wonders for people’s self esteem. Do you show appreciation to others?

This is not a complicated strategy that you have to study for years. It is believing there is good in every person, no matter how hard you have to look and then taking the time to tell them. This is not to say that people are bad or wrong for not showing appreciation. I believe, many people have become so busy solving problems and achieving outcomes that their focus is on finding mistakes, errors and poor practice. It doesn’t make them bad people, just means maybe they’ve forgotten or don’t realize the importance of 30 grams of appreciation.

It doesn’t matter what our position or title in life is, we all crave appreciation. I remember how good I felt when my director would send me a quick note appreciating my efforts. I created a “kudos” file and looked back on it whenever I was feeling underappreciated. It was a great “pick me up” strategy.

The last thing I want to say is notice how you feel when you give someone 30 grams of appreciation. It not only has the recipient feeling good, but you feel good too! And – it’s FREE! How good is that in these “tough economic times?”

Please consider my challenge:

Join me for the next 7 days by giving 3 different people (colleagues, friends, enemies, whoever), 30 grams of appreciation, each day. That means a total of 21 different people will receive 30 g of appreciation, from each person. Do the math, that’s almost a kilogram of appreciation spreading per person. Notice how you feel when you give it and notice the response you get. Sometimes we won’t physically see the recipients’ response because it will be internal, but we’ll know we’ve made someone’s day. How good is that?

Step Out of the Ordinary!

Barb's Signature