What Have You Done? To acknowledge is to express gratitude, to
take notice of, and to recognize as genuine or valid. Think for
a moment about someone you spend time with: your employees, your
family, your friends. How would they respond if you never
acknowledged or noticed the things that they did? Not well, I
suppose. Beyond that, you might have high turnover and lose
contact with close friends. Family may become resentful and
begin to act out in order to get attention, even if it’s
negative. Alternatively, how do you feel when you are
acknowledged? Maybe it’s acknowledgment from an employer with a
bonus, or a hand-written note from a friend or relative. Perhaps
it’s an unexpected gift from your spouse or child. Chances are
that their expressed gratitude changed you, at least for the
moment. Life didn’t seem so crazy, your deadline didn’t seem so
important, and you were able to become present in that space.
Wouldn’t you like more times like that? Wouldn’t we all?
Acknowledgement and gratitude are powerful to