Remember the classic, The One-Minute Manager, by Drs. Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson? Loved that book! One of their most famous pieces of advice for leaders and managers in effectively working with their team members was to, “Catch them in the act of doing something right.”
When you catch someone in the act of doing the right thing (or doing the thing right), make sure you acknowledge verbally and, if appropriate, make sure everyone else in the office or home – or wherever—also knows about the recognition.
When the customer service rep handles the person in front of you with patience and empathy, make sure you let them know you noticed, and how impressed with them you are. If there are others around, it wouldn’t hurt to lavish your praise in a voice loud enough for them to hear, as well.
And, of course, isn’t it great to catch a child in the act of doing something right, and verbally reward him or her for that?
As the saying goes, whether positive or negative…
“Behavior that gets rewarded, gets repeated.”
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself in terms of catching others in the act of doing something right? How would you suggest improving on your score, or how others could improve upon their scores? And, if you have any personal examples…please feel free to share.
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YES, great reminder to start off our week…. thanks, Bob. Praise and recognition are in most cases more important than money/raises, etc. Taking the time to praise someone confirms that you CARE… and caring is an essential aspect of leadership!
I am very verbal about praising my 3rd grade son for good behavior and great grades! My recent praise has been about his outstanding pitching at that the start of his baseball season. Well he recently struck out both a 4th and a 5th grader! He had been so nervous for weeks about pitching and playing with older boys this season and what do you know?….. some verbal praise and recoginition about how well he was pitching gave him a little more confidence and POSTURE!
Thanks again, Bob.
Good morning Bob! Great post for us to start our week out with. We can’t praise some doing the right thing enough. I work in Customer Service and Sales and I unfortunately do not have enough time in the day to listen to all of my agents calls. Therefore, it is so refreshing when one of our customers makes the effort to let me know when one of my agents goes above and beyond.
I agree with Phil~what a great thought to start off a great week!
Not to be a bragger, but I would rate myself a 10 and I give credit for that to my 24 year-old daughter’s Kindergarten teacher. I volunteered in her classroom once a week and was in awe of her ability to control a group of enthusiastic 5 year-olds. I learned an invaluable parenting tip that year, which has served me well as a Mom AND an entrepreneur: Ignore the Bad and Reward the Good!
If someone, let’s call him Joe, was having trouble staying in his seat, Mrs. Thompson would say “I love the way Mary is sitting in her seat so nicely!” If Suzie was chatting and laughing with her friend, Mrs. T. would point out “I really like how Joe is working so quietly. Great Job Joe!” I adopted Mrs. Thompson’s philosophy all those years ago and I can honestly say it’s one of the most valuable tools I have in my bag of tricks.
Great reminder, my friend.
How great? Welll my “catch them soing something right” score is definitely not what it should be. In fact, it is downright ugly. 🙁
So, I am catching you doing something right: reminding me to start catching a whole lot more.
Thank you. And, keep the wisdom flowing our way.
Wow ! I wrote this one down early this morning, preparing to write an article. Bob, I am so grateful for you and your inspiring words. It is another great reminder of what we “should” do. Like you said, this is also great to use at home. It is amazing how people ( kids ) respond to positive recognition.
“Behavior that gets rewarded, gets repeated” is so true ! Another one of my favorites is from Dale Carnegie;
“Abilities wither under criticism, but blossom under encouragement”
Thanks again Bob. I will be looking to catch people doing something right more often and telling them about it.
Al, thank you. Yes, what Dale said is so true, isn’t it? He certainly knew how to bring out the best in people! Thanks for sharing!
Phil, thank you. So glad you enjoyed it. Yes, always terrific when customer let’s us know about someone on our team going above and beyond, or just doing something…right. Thanks for sharing!
Linda, that’s an awesome story about your daughter’s teacher. And, very cool how you so consciously picked up on that and have utilized it as part of your own success principles. Hmmm, do I see a Linda Ryan blog post coming up regarding that teacher?? 🙂
Dave, thank you. Knowing you as I do, I have a feeling your score though is better than you think it is. And, thank you for catching me doing something right. Please know how much that means to me!
HI Bob, Great post indeed. I will confess that this principle is the primary reason I am divorced. I grew up with affirming parents, the kind that said yes unless they had to say no. They went out of their way to catch us doing things right. My ex comes from the other camp. It’s unhealthy to live under constant criticism, even as an adult. We are who we hang out with, right? As employees and as individuals, we always perform better around positive people.
You’re one of the best!
I looooooove this post, Bob! Wow, Kathleen and I were chatting about this topic on the radio network this morning. Well, I would rate myself at a 7 but definitely room for improvement. I attended/participated in a diversity leadership conference last week Friday. I was blown away with the order, professionalism, high caliber of attendees and posh venue. It was my intent to acknowledge the hard work and efforts of the organizers/hosts. I did mention it to their director and can continue spreading the good word. Keep up the super work!
Wendy, that is quite a lesson you shared with us. Thank you so much for sharing so much of yourself. And, thank you for your kind compliment.
Mary, thank you. More great lessons. And, congrats to your son on his outstanding pitching. We’ll have to start calling him Nolan Ryan. Unless he’s a southpaw. Then it will be Koufax! 🙂
Chi Chi, thank you. So glad you enjoyed the post. Terrific that you acknowledged the efforts to the director. Sounds like you’re higher than a 7! 🙂
Great Post Bob! It is good to remember to catch someone doing something right! Congrats on being one of Jane’s Friday Favs!
Thank you, Amy!