Compliments

Compliments come from surprising places and sometimes those are the best.

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I was teaching Statistics this week (it is a two day course on basics of statistics but includes applied regression analysis and modeling) I teach this course three times a year and have been doing this for 18 years (yikes, long time).

There was a 22 year-old student who just graduated from university in June and just started working for an organization's HR department (in compensation). Usually, the students in this class are older and have been out of university for some time. At the end of the course, she approached me and said "you would make a great professor" and we had a good discussion for a few minutes on why, etc. (it was relevant because I would like to teach more regularly in a college or university setting in the future). I have to tell you, as I was leaving, I felt really good about that compliment even got a few butterflies in my stomach (maybe she was just being nice, who knows), but it gave me such a lift after an interesting week.

My point to this posting is that the smallest compliments (from unexpected places) can go a long way. As leaders, it is easy to forget how a few nice words can impact people or a pat on the back. As for those future leaders, remember that those in leadership positions also like those compliments (if deserved, but dont overdo it, dont want to be known as a brown-noser). Compliments are not expensive, they don't directly affect the P&L statement, but they do have a powerful impact on those receiving them! Use them, but use them wisely.

Thanks for reading this blog!