Lately, there’s been a lot of focus on positive praise in my workplace. This is a set of words that I’ve used quite often, and I believe fully in the power of the tongue to bring life or death as the Bible states. Speaking to children in positive ways in the classroom and providing lots of positive praise versus focusing regularly on the negatives of their choices makes a huge difference in the classroom atmosphere and the attitude of both the students and teachers. Being a former classroom teacher for school age kids from K-6 and in the preschool, I quickly learned how much better it was for me to focus on the positive, even in my own thinking about going to work and dealing with the most challenging of situations that arise when working with children, but since transitioning recently back to teaching the teachers, I hadn’t thought about the effect of positive praise on adults in quite a while.
This past weekend when reading “The Five Love Languages,” I was reminded of how much we as adults also need positive praise. The first love language detailed in the book is “Words of Affirmation.” Another verse in the Bible says, “An anxious heart weighs down a man, but a kind word cheers him up.” Words of affirmation are not my primary love language (in other words, it’s not the type of love I most crave), but to many, it is. Those words of praise or appreciation can go a long way and are actually communicators of love as expressed in the book. It’s not that I don’t like to hear positive praise myself. I do. Doesn’t everyone? But, I don’t need to hear that as much as I need quality time with others. Realizing that this is one way to communicate love that others in my life may really need has refocused me on trying to do that more with my friends and family and even my co-workers. Unfortunately, it has been much easier for me lately to provide positive praise at work, and then go home tired, get really comfortable as we tend to do with family and forget to continue it at home. It’s something I need to work on...
Now, the book focuses mainly on the marriage and love relationship between couples, but I believe it applies to all relationships you have in life. What better way to encourage morale in the workplace and to promote healthy communication than to operate using the five love languages there. In fact, I’m sure Mr. Chapman probably already has a book about this. I just haven’t read it yet. Point being, today I used this love language during a staff luncheon by handing out written compliments and lollipops to each member of our wonderful department.
At first, it may sound silly, adults don’t want or need lollipops and laminated compliments to feel good about the work they are doing, but I believe they do. We all need to hear that we are doing a good job sometimes and that we are appreciated. In turn, I received so many heart felt thank yous for taking the time to write out and consider the strengths of each person in the group, and that’s the words of affirmation and positive praise coming back to me in an awesome way! I can’t take credit for any of it really as I simply re-implemented something my predecessor had started way back when, but in the chaos and stress of life, it had been left behind for the past couple of years and needed to be brought back to our staff to lift them up. So, thank you Mr. Chapman and my friend and former co-worker, for helping me make a difference in the workplace by teaching and reminding me how important positive praise is for everyone! Now, if I can just be more diligent to take it home with me as well. Thank you friends and family for all you do. I don’t know where I’d be without you! Love and hugs to you all! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment