Mastering the Art of Powerful Acknowledgment by Evan Hackel – An excerpt from my book Ingaging Leadership: The Ultimate Edition: Hackel, Evan: 9781962825078: Amazon.com: Books
Acknowledging others powerfully is one of the most effective tools you can harness to enhance your leadership. It goes far beyond uttering a simple ‘thank you.’ To genuinely acknowledge someone, you employ a wide lens, assimilating and appreciating the other person as wholly as you can, then extending your validation and encouragement on a similar scale. Unfortunately, we tend to skimp on this practice in our society.
Let’s say you run into someone in the morning; you may greet them, perhaps even thank them for something. However, these gestures, while polite, barely scratch the surface of what a true and powerful acknowledgment entails. It involves a deep recognition and appreciation when someone accomplishes something positive or noteworthy.
You can say to someone on your staff, for example, “Your efforts are making this program immensely better, your changes to the flow and shifting the directions to focus more on the attendees really made a difference, and I want you to know how deeply I appreciate you. I want you to recognize the impact you’re making on our entire organization. Working with you on this project has been a joy.”
This is a comprehensive acknowledgment. The depth and detail can have a profound impact on the recipient. Some people may shy away from receiving praise, finding it discomforting. But when you’re detailed and specific, you bypass that reluctance and genuinely affirm the individual.
