If you’re a leader and you’re seeing results coming through that delight you – celebrate, and make sure that you extend your celebration to include the people who were responsible for achieving the fine results that “spun your wheels”.
It’s perfectly O.K. to be happy when things are going well – and to show some of the happiness that you feel. You’ll be surprised the “rub-off” effect your happiness will have on others around you – if you show it.
Every human being on the planet has the desire to be acknowledged in some shape or form. I have found that simple acknowledgements such as saying “thank you” or “well done” when a manager appreciates the work of a person who reports to them are become less and less heard in the workplace – and this troubles me, mainly because this failing to acknowledge the efforts/ contributions/ outputs of others is contributing to the general degrading of people relationships in the workplace (in my view and experience).
If a colleague has clearly done a terrific job of producing something….then tell them so. If a colleague has produced a result that is clearly above and beyond expectations…then tell them so. Acknowledge and praise well executed work and/ or high performance.
I have seen egotistical leaders really struggle with expressing praise to people who report to them, even when praise has most certainly been well deserved. Such leaders seem to think that by praising others/ subordinates for work well done will somehow diminish the value/ importance that their superiors will place on them.
As a leader, if you want people to consistently apply the best of themselves to generate the best results/ outputs that they’re capable of then acknowledge and praise well executed/ performed work each time such high quality work is produced/ achieved.
If you are an employer who is managing the work activities of talented employees or contractors and you want to retain these people as valuable contributors to your oranisation long into the future, then acknowledge and praise them on those occasions when they clearly perform/ achieve in line with or beyond your expectations. People want to know when they’re doing a good job – so make sure you tell them so when they do.