Valuing Others' Contributions

Here are some suggestions for how you can enhance your skills in the leadership behaviours of Valuing Others’ Contributions:

• Reflect on the extent to which you show that you value colleagues and the extent to which you give them praise and thanks for the work they do, or the effort they put in.
• If you feel you do this, do you do it with conviction so that people know it is genuine? Do you do it regularly enough so that they remember you appreciate them, or do you save it for the biannual appraisal, or some other formal mechanism?
• If giving praise and thanks isn’t something you do regularly, what are the reasons for this? Addressing these reasons is important.
• Make a note when a colleague has done some excellent work, or put in extraordinary effort to address an issue, or has made a significant contribution to the team/department’s success. Find a way to communicate that you have noticed it, valued it, believe it makes an important contribution, and thank them sincerely. Make the extra effort to call them, email them, drop in, or in some way show your appreciation.
• Remember that praise is often most effective when the person provides specific reasons and/or examples for what they have valued in the other person’s behaviour or attitude. It shows that you genuinely care.
• Consider inviting each team member to say one thing that concerns them, and/or one thing that they’re proud of, or have learned, at the beginning or end of each meeting. Strengthen team spirit, confidence, and resilience by encouraging optimism and sharing good news, rather than typically always focussing on problems or the transactional aspects of work. You too should be contributing to this sharing activity.
• Try to find opportunities to show your appreciation to colleagues, even if it is just on small matters. Note the effect this has on them and whether there is an accumulative effect as you start to do it more often.