Last week was a story about recognizing progress.  This week is a different recognition story.  The other day the girls and I were playing with Legos while my wife was out of the house with some friends.  Whenever Alice builds something she thinks is really cool we put it up on the island in our kitchen so she can show her mom later.  When we show my wife, Alice gets so excited, and it gives us a chance as parents to encourage her for her creativity, imagination, and the stories she tells.

The picture is of Alice with some Lego creations.  Notice that I didn’t say HER Lego creations.  She built the tower thing on the left, but the other things you see are things that I built with Violet.  Violet and I had just finished building “Dinosaur Truck Tower” and “Helicopter Friend” (Alice’s names for the things) when Alice rushed over and said, “Daddy, these are beautiful.  Can I put them on the island to show mommy?  She’ll be so proud of you and Violet.”

Alice wasn’t jealous.  Alice wasn’t worried that if her mom saw our cool stuff that she’d think Alice’s creations weren’t great.  Instead, she was so proud of the work her sister and I did that she wanted to share it with her mom.

 Think about our work.  We often talk about the need for reward and recognition.  We often wait for a boss or someone higher up to notice us.  Instead of waiting, why don’t we lift each other up to be seen?  How often do you get so excited about the work of your peers that you make the effort to make sure the boss notices them?  How do you take their work and put it on your “kitchen island” so everyone else can see what you think is beautiful?

 The Challenge: Show someone a peer’s “Lego creation” this week.  Show them the beautiful colors, the thought that went into building it.  Show them that you are noticing them and you care enough about them that you want to share them and their success with the world.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry