I was listening to the Gerry Ryan show this morning (29th May 2006) on the radio when the discussion evolved around the level of competition that is present in Sports Clubs at all age groups from 6 years up. One caller introduced himself as “Chris” and is a Soccer coach for a local underage club here in Ireland. In explaining his philosophy to coaching he said, “Teach them how to be good losers and they will learn how to be good winners”. He went on to explain that on his team, everyone gets the opportunity to play on a regular basis, no one is permanently on the sideline and when something goes wrong, players are not allowed to give out about their team mates. They are not allowed to have “long faces” and the focus is very much on supporting everyone to do their best through encouragement, teaching and teamwork.

Some Managers think that giving someone a job and paying their wages should be award enough to motivate them to do a good job. Others find that threats and instruction will make sure that people do a good job. Both these approaches are not positive and will not do anything to improve the energy or performance of either Manager or staff member. More Managers just don’t realise the true power of praise and are not using it to support their teams.

I remember one job I had when I only realised how much I was valued and appreciated when I handed in my notice to resign. This is something that happens so often on a too regular basis. In fact one of the main reasons people resign is not for money but because of lack of appreciation.

At work, when was the past time you praised someone for a job well done? When was the last time you yourself were praised? How did receiving that praise make you feel? Were you more energised, positive, happy, committed? Did it make you feel appreciated? Did it encourage you to want to do more? Giving praise can be as easy as saying “Great job” or “I appreciate all the effort you have put into that” and it’s cheap, a few spoken words, a hand written note or a small token of appreciation is all it takes.

Praise not only lifts the person getting the praise, it also energises the praise giver.

In school, my classmates and I went on a retreat and were asked to partake in a short exercise. I read recently about a Companies management team in a UK using this same exercise to great effect. The facilitator asked us to each take out an A4 sheet of paper and while sitting in a circle, on the top write “I like (my name) because ............”. We were then asked to pass the sheet of paper to the person to our right who was invited to write a short statement to complete the sentence – “I like Fergal because......”. The sheets were circulated to everyone in rotation so when my own sheet finally got back to me I had 15 (there were 16 of us in the group) positive comments written about me by my classmates. Almost 20 years on, I still have that sheet of paper and refer to it when I need an energy or confidence boost. Would it be possible for you to introduce this idea to your team at work? How would you imagine people would feel after doing this exercise – pretty positive and energised perhaps? If you decide to give this exercise a go, please drop me a line and let me know how you get on.

I challenge you today to give someone some praise. Be sincere and genuine and notice how the interaction makes you and the receiver feel.

Until next time – remember: - “Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit: we cannot flower and grow without it”. Jess Lair

Fergal O’Connor is a Business and Personal Life Coach working in partnership with his Business and Private clients providing a supportive, confidential, challenging and non-judgemental environment to make their ambitions and dreams a reality. Fergal also facilitates a range of Management training programs and is available for public speaking engagements. Fergal can be contacted at Synergy Coaching Services, Tel: (061) 467287, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Copyright © 2006 Synergy Coaching Services.