Incorporating simple coaching practices into your work and life can make all the difference to your relationships. There are a million different coaching tools you can play with, and one of my favourites is acknowledgement.
Acknowledgement is a really simple tool that involves naming what powerful and positive things you notice about someone.
If a colleague throws everything into their work every day, it can mean a lot to them to say ‘you’re committed to your work’ or ‘you’re a hard worker’ or even ‘you show up and put every effort into your work every day’. If it feels more comfortable to add something like ‘I really admire that in you’ then add that in. Strictly speaking it lessens the impact, but I know in a work based situation where there are other dynamics at play, it can help to add a little context to the acknowledgement.
Essentially, we don’t name and reflect the positives in each other anywhere near enough. At a workshop recently I found the receptionist to the organisation exceptionally warm and welcoming. On my way out after delivering the workshop I acknowledged her for it. And her response was ‘that has really made my day.’
A couple of rules around acknowledgement are – keep it simple and to the point ‘you are brave’ ‘you are helpful’ ‘you are kind’. And also only say it when you mean it, find something you do genuinely see in others and offer it to them. There is always a quality, a skill, a positive way of being in every person that you can reflect back to them.
And on the flip side, when someone acknowledges you, the response is always ‘thank you’. When someone names something about you accept it and take it onboard.
Happy acknowledging!
With love as always, Hannah and Team Bird
PS. There are still a few spots available for our workshop on April 7th in collaboration with The Social Change Agency. This is a rare opportunity to attend one of our workshops externally, and we’d love to see you there. Follow this link for more information: https://thesocialchangeagency.org/events-trainings/building-personal-resilience-in-a-fast-paced-world/
PPS. If you would like to share these emails with colleagues please do. And please encourage them to sign up to our newsletter using the link: http://eepurl.com/dbdqqj
Photo by Perchek Industrie on Unsplash