 Thank You Revolution Archive |
Melissa quit her job.She quit because she felt unappreciated and unneeded. |
But she was appreciated and very much needed…in fact, she was absolutely crucial to the team. Her boss pleaded with her to stay and apologized profusely. He offered a significant raise, a better title, and more training.
Her boss was me.
How did it ever come to this? How did I let it get this bad? What was I going to do next?
Out of that pain…from the horrifying realization that I was withholding appreciation from my team and it was causing serious issues…the Thank You Revolution was born.
That day was more than five years ago, but I remember it clearly.
And I plead with you, like I pled with her that day, don’t let it get to that point.
Go overboard with appreciation and gratitude. Tell people every day. Write notes every day. Shower your team, your family, and your friends with praise, thanks, love, and a feeling of necessity. Because they all are necessary to your success in life.
Last year I wrote a post entitled Suicide (Or…Why People Leave Jobs)
It started:
A suicide note from a 17-year old boy read in part:
No one cares about me anyway. You won’t miss me when I am gone. You won’t even notice I’m not here. Goodbye to anyone who actually loved me, because I never knew you did.
Let that sink in for a minute before you move on. Picture this teenager writing those words. See the angst and frustration, the sadness and the hurt, the loneliness and worthlessness that he felt.
Well, this note just as easily could have been written by someone leaving his or her job.
The #1 reason why people commit suicide? “No cares about me anyway.”
The #1 reason why people leave their jobs? “Lack of appreciation,” which is a fancy way of saying “no one cares about me anyway.”
No one cares that I missed all of my son’s baseball games. No one cares that I’ve lost sleep over the sales decline this quarter. No one cares that I have faithfully come to work on time every day for four years, come hell or high water, despite sickness, family deaths, and anniversaries.
No one cares that I beat every goal for 16 straight quarters and stayed under budget every year.
No one cares. Or at least I never knew they did. You won’t miss me when I’m gone.
You can read the full post here.
Learn from my mistake. Take action today to make sure those closest to you know how much they are appreciated.
With Gratitude,
Matt McWilliams
Matt McWilliams.com | Life. Leadership. Love. Learned the Hard Way
