Staring at me from the page was a copy of the hand-written thank-you note I’d sent to Bill Glazer and his team following the recent conference.
I sat there dumb-founded for a moment, pondering the reason and the implications…and thinking back to an even earlier conference.
I'd walked up to Bill Glazer and given him positive feedback about all the things I was enjoying at the event. His response surprised me:
“Thank you. You are such a positive person. You’re always saying nice things to me. Can I get you to call me every day and tell me stuff like this?”
Bill Glazer is a man who’s achieved amazing success in his career and his life. He’s a millionaire many times over and has advised thousands of entrepreneurs.
You wouldn’t think he needs regular doses of positive feedback.
But he does. We ALL do.
Several months ago I received this eloquent, unforgettable comment on one of my blog posts from my Twitter friend Wayne McEvilly, a gifted concert pianist:
“Your post brought to mind a fan letter I wrote to Dame Myra Hess, the great British pianist whose work was a service to her nation and to humanity. I told her that her music brought us closer to God. She wrote back (this astounded me since my praise was a drop in the ocean of praise she had experienced from royalty and the world at large) - She said ‘You must never think that praise such as yours is not wanted, or needed.’ Those words from 1957 still ring clear in my mind, and I remind myself never to allow sincere praise to be muted by any circumstance.”Another example of someone who had attained worldwide recognition and success, yet still yearned to hear sincere affirmations from an admirer…
So as I gazed at the GKIC newsletter, with an entire page devoted to my note, I reflected once again on the power we have to brighten the lives of others by simply expressing gratitude and appreciation.
You never know when another human being needs to be encouraged. Every person on the planet can benefit from feeling valued, so don’t hold back when you have the opportunity to give positive feedback or offer a genuine thank-you.
Adopt this wisdom from Wayne McEvilly as your daily mantra and look for ways to positively impact the life of someone else through your words:
“I remind myself never to allow sincere praise
to be muted by any circumstance.”
Wonderful post, Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI agree we often assume that because look like they have it all from the outside they wont appreciate positive feedback. However, no matter how successful you are it's a constant battle with your own internal critic so we can all do with help to turn them down or keep them quiet.
ReplyDeleteThank you for those insights, Ola. Everyone has an inner critic whose negative input needs to be balanced with the positive. And affirmation from others is extremely valuable in that regard.
ReplyDeleteI loved the examples. Thinking I can do much mote and better now. Thank you for writing this blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your positive feedback, Raoul. I appreciate it and glad it served to inspire you to express gratitude more often.
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