Lesson 5- The Importance of Reward and Recognition (11-26-25)

This is the last in the series of lessons that kept repeating for me throughout the year. Lesson 5 is that reward and recognition are more important now than ever before.

I’ve noticed a pattern over the past few months. When I’ve shown appreciation for people this year, their reaction has been stronger than in years past. Don’t get me wrong. People have always been thankful. They have always appreciated being seen and recognized for their work. It just seems like rather than words of recognition and appreciation being a small boost, they are now filling a deep hole. Have you noticed this?

Why is this happening? I’m not sure what it is. I don’t know if it’s because we are running faster and harder than ever before. I don’t know if it’s because life feels less stable than it ever has. Maybe it’s because collectively we’ve lost touches of our humanity as we have become connected with devices and less connected to each other. Maybe it’s because our unspoken question is, “Do I matter?” as we exist in large corporate machines. Whatever it is, I feel that there is less acknowledgement of others and their worth than there has been in years past. It’s a massive tangible difference that I can feel with individuals AND more broadly with groups. What do you think?

While I don’t have any idea what is causing this, it is making me more aware of how much power each of us has, and how easily we can use that power as a force for good. Taking a few moments to say a kind word. Spending a few minutes writing an email shouting out someone for their effort. These things don’t just create ripples; they create powerful waves now.

The challenge: We have more power to lift others up than we will ever realize. Will you use this power to recognize someone and fill them up today?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Marriage and Small Acts of Recognition (5-31-23)

In about a month, I’ll celebrate my 15-year wedding anniversary with my wife, Diane. In honor of that, this series will be about lessons I’ve learned over those 15 years. We’ll start by talking about the importance of small acts of recognition.

Our family has a lot going on right now. I’m working multiple jobs and trying to be cool like a duck on the pond while my legs frantically move under the water. Summer is starting. Alice has her first major play and is having rehearsal every night for multiple hours. Cam has been going crazy about going to the pool since it opened. There’s a lot of stress/excitement/energy making everyone a bit crazy right now. Sound familiar to anyone else? 😉 Needless to say, it’s been a lot. Yesterday, Cam was having a particularly difficult day, and my wife handled it beautifully with incredible patience and listening. She sent me a text update about the situation. I could have just said read the message and moved on. Instead, I immediately said, “Great parenting! You’re the best!” We went on to offer a few words of encouragement and recognition to each other.

What does this have to do with anything? I’ve found that in our almost 15 years of marriage, it’s easy to get so busy and wrapped up in the day-to-day grind and routine that I miss a chance to show my appreciation for my wife. I’ve learned how far a few words of recognition and appreciation can go, especially when things are hectic. The exact same thing holds true for work. It’s so easy to get lost in the day-to-day that we don’t pause for a few moments to appreciate and value people for what they are doing.

The challenge: How will you ensure you’re letting people know you appreciate and value them?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Thanksgiving and Appreciating the Inputs and Outputs (11-21-22)

This week is about Thanksgiving and being thankful for both outputs and inputs.

On Thursday I’ll have Thanksgiving with the in-laws and we will have things like: turkey, mac n cheese, rolls, mashed potatoes, multiple pies, my mother-in-law’s spectacular stuffing (my favorite thing), and more. It will taste delicious, like it does every year. Here’s the thing. That food doesn’t miraculously appear on its own. It requires a lot of time, effort, energy, and resources from a lot of people to make it happen. It’s the time, patience, and care spread over hours that leads to a great turkey. It’s investing hours in finding the ingredients, preparing the ingredients, and pulling it all together that leads to an amazing pie. On Thursday, I’ll be thankful for the food AND for the people and all of the effort they put in to prepare a great meal and a space to enjoy each other.

What does this have to do with anything? In our analogy this week we should be thankful for the outcome (delicious food) and we should appreciate all of the inputs (the people, time, effort, and resources it takes to pull this off). This same thinking should apply to the work we do.

We live in a world obsessed with outcomes and final deliverables. While we are obsessed with these things, we don’t always acknowledge the sacrifice and effort that goes into creating something great. Have you ever created a deliverable that was used and then felt that your contributions weren’t quite appreciated? I have. Have you ever felt that people didn’t fully understand or appreciate the amount of effort, energy, and resources you had to pour into making something successful? I have. Now think about when things went differently. What did it feel like when you and your efforts were appreciated as much as what you delivered? This always makes me feel valued and that I matter.

The challenge: How are you recognizing the effort and energy that goes into the deliverable vs. just recognizing the deliverable itself?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Being Intentional about Watering Plants (8-26-20)

Last week was about knowing what you need to grow and develop. This week is about being intentional about watering plants and giving love, care, and recognition to people.

My wife has flowers planted everywhere outside of our house. Every day she would spend a few minutes checking on the plants to ensure they were getting enough water. Sometimes the plants were fine, because it had been raining, so they were receiving all the nourishment they needed. Sometimes, the plants were a little dry and she’d water them that night to take care of them. Either way, she always checked in on them to see what they needed. This pattern has been disrupted lately. My wife has been in the hospital for the past 3 weeks with surgery and recovery. With all this going on, I haven’t been doing the best job of checking on the plants, so they aren’t doing as well as they should be doing. Now you could say I’m busy with other things right now, which is true. The other truth is that the plants are starting to not do so well, and I need to take care of them.

Where is this going? Plants need water to grow, and a parallel to this is that people need care, love, and recognition to feel seen. Like plants, people won’t always tell you when they need a little nourishment. It’s up to us to check in on them and give them nourishment. My wife was great about checking on the plants, and I wasn’t, so they began to die. In a similar way, if we don’t check on each other and give what is needed, people become disengaged and start to wither. When it comes to people, I always make the assumption that people need a little extra care, love, and recognition, so I try to give them a little bit of this in every interaction. Assuming they need this is the safest bet, because it guarantees there is no way to lose. If the person is already feeling awesome about themselves and I give them an extra word of encouragement, they gain an extra boost in their step. If the person is having a tough time, then my words of encouragement can be the water they desperately need.

Now you could say it’s difficult to give people the care, love, recognition, and support they need. This is true. You could also say, it’s easy not to do those things because you are so busy. This is also true. The other truth is that if it is your team, you are responsible for helping your team grow. If you don’t give them the support they need, they will wither until you begin taking care of them again.

The challenge: How intentional are you about ensuring your team gets the “water” they need?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Socks and Nudges (8-28-19)

This week I’d like to start a series inspired by clothing. We’ll start with a story about the gift of cool socks.

If you go back in time about 5 years, my sock game was boring. I wore basic solid colored dress socks every day. That’s what I had been doing for years. Fashion/style isn’t my thing, so my main goal in life is to not look like an idiot (this pertains to clothing, not general life, because you all know I’m always a slightly weird mess). This all changed when I met Reggie Chris . In case you don’t know these fine gentlemen, they are style mavens. They are always on point with their sock game, bow ties, shoes, and other stuff. Anyway, I noticed their sock game and would give them compliments from time to time. One day Chris and Reggie gave me a gift. They gave me my first pair of cool Happy socks, and that turned out to be the gateway to elevating my sock game. Now my sock game consists of different superhero, video game, and nerdtastic socks.

So what does this have to do with anything? The story isn’t really about socks. The story is about a small act. It’s a story about giving people a nudge. You never quite know what a small act will turn into. They bought me a pair of socks for a few dollars, and it became a nudge for me to further explore and express my nerd side. What I’ve come to realize is that cool socks are fun and they make me happy. They also sometimes make other people chuckle too.

Think about your career for a moment. What are some of the small acts and little nudges that you’ve received. Here are a few of my favorite personal smalls acts/nudges throughout my career.

A guy I worked with in training, told me that he believed my poetry and storytelling could move people. This led to some of my first blogs and poetry performances, and now I blog weekly and perform poetry on a regular basis at work (this still blows my mind). This has opened me up to so much and given me a chance to impact so many people.
I was new to a role and was given a last minute project that needed to be handled right away. I was unsure of whether or not I could deliver and my supervisor said, “I know you can handle it.” That little nugget of faith was all I needed to keep going.
One of my bosses sent me a text message that basically said, “You’re crazy, and we need your kind of crazy. Keep it up.” This was a small nudge to keep being me, even though there were a lot of people looking at me like I was a Martian. (Full disclosure- I’m from Pluto and ticked that you punks don’t view my home world as a planet.)
I believe I have all the thank you cards people have written for me over the past few years. The thank you cards all essentially say the same thing. “Thanks. Keep being you,” and often that’s the fuel I need to keep going.

The challenge: What small act will you do to nudge and move people forward?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Inspector Gadget and Recognizing Others for their Contributions (11-28-18)

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Last week’s blog was about Ninja Turtles and evolving with changing context. This week is about Inspector Gadget, Penny, Brain, and lifting up those who contribute to the team’s success (because this what we need to do to ensure we can take over the world).

In case you aren’t familiar, the cartoon follows the adventures of Inspector Gadget, a sort of cyborg, as he works to thwart the evil Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. agents. Inspector Gadget’s body is filled with various inventions and enhancements from his infamous “go-go gadget arms” to his “gadget copter” and “gadget phone”. Always accompanying Inspector Gadget are his niece, Penny, and dog, Brain. Brain and Penny often work behind the scenes, unbeknownst to Gadget, in order to help him save the day. At the end of the adventure, they all save the day, Dr. Claw retreats, and Gadget is given the accolades for defeating Dr. Claw again.

You might be wondering where this is going. The problem I’ve always had with Inspector Gadget is that Penny and Brain don’t ever get the respect and recognition they deserve. Sure, Inspector Gadget has some pretty amazing abilities, and he does his part to help save the day. However, Penny and Brain are huge contributors too, and they are never seen for this. Inspector Gadget, the Chief, and the others are oblivious to their contributions.

This reminds me of work sometimes. Often, we applaud the “title character” in the form of the supervisor, project leader, etc. and we fail to recognize, appreciate, and value all of the people working outside of the spotlight. Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever thought to yourself, “Sure, they were the leader, but they didn’t get there on their own”? The fact is that without Penny and Brain, Inspector Gadget would fail miserably. In the same way, without all of the people working “behind” the scenes, the person in the spotlight wouldn’t get there either.

All of this doesn’t mean that Inspector Gadget is bad. It just means he can do better. We can do better. We can make the choice to elevate those people who need to be seen. It just takes us being intentional enough to do this, and being strong enough to lift them up. I try to remind myself that if my go-go gadget arms are large enough to wrap around a project and lead through it, then they are also strong enough to ensure I lift up the people who need to be recognized.

The challenge: Are you lifting up the people who need to be seen? Lift someone up today. Seriously, stop what you’re doing. Take a quick second and send an email to someone to lift them up. Then, go the extra step and forward that email to the person’s boss so the boss knows that person is awesome. It will take all of 5 minutes, and will make the week for the person.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lessons from Being a Dad Part 2 Legos and Recognition (2-17-16)

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