Lindsey Vonn wins emotional first gold
 

Lindsey Vonn overcomes leg pain and wins gold in the women's downhill. Later, she gets emotional when interviewed by NBC's Todd Brooker.

 

 

Shaun White repeats in halfpipe

Shaun White wins his second straight Olympic gold medal in men's halfpipe event.

"Money ain't everything."

I don't know about you, but as Lindsey Vonn let loose a  flood of tears immediately upon finishing and  winning her event, I, too, found my eyes welling up with pride and joy in  celebration of  her outstanding  accomplishment.  Likewise with Shaun White's amazing performance and win in the halfpipe.  They and  other athletes from  around the  world spent the past four years -- and in some cases longer, getting ready for their shot at an Olympic Gold Medal.  Yes, a medallion.  A piece of metal suspended from a ribbon.  A memento with an actual intrinsic value that costs less than  the  skis  she wore or the snowboard he rode to victory. 

And these are only two of the 2,600 athletes from 82 nations who gathered together in Vancouver, Canada to compete for their moment of glory and recognition.  For a very few contestants, fame and fortune may follow.  But monetary reward was not the  driving  factor behind the years of effort which went into the tremendous  physical conditioning and intense training that drove these 2,600 individuals to compete.  Their motivation was the chance to be recognized for their achievements by their peers, their countrymen and the entire world. 

Recognition can be a powerful motivator and reward.

Some people won't admit it but it's a fact: we often work harder for a Mickey Mouse trophy than we do  for money (although in  business, when one earns a trophy, it often means that money precedes or accompanies the trophy). 

I guess I am a good example of this.  Over the years I have earned numerous plaques,  trophies and other forms of recognition for various accomplishments in several businesses -- including  one from Entrepreneur Magazine back in 1986.  I have been featured in dozens of newspaper and magazine articles and a subject of three hard cover books.  But the recognition and awards that most affected me came many years ago  in the  direct sales  business.  The first was a gold pin representing the sale of at least 1,000 vacuum cleaners per month over a 12 month period; the second gold pin came in recognition of a lifetime  achievement of  selling 40,000 machines (and  no, I  did  not  sell  that  many personally; these were sales made  through the organizations  I created).  And I am not  ashamed  to admit that,  like  Lindsey Vonn, I choked up and shed a few tears in front of hundreds of people in the audience.  And the intrinsic  value of those pins?  Maybe $50 or $100 at best -- but it was what they represented in terms of recognition that gave them a value that money can't buy.

Your employees appreciate recognition, too.

Did you ever work for a boss who never  took the time to give you a pat  on the back or a "good  job  well done" compliment?  How  about a simple, "thank you" from your supervisor?  Lack of recognition can be a tremendous demotivator!  Of course, praising employees without cause makes the whole process  meaningless.  And if you do this, it detracts from the credibility of the praise when you grant it to deserving workers. 

Some managers are always looking to catch an employee  doing  something wrong.  I like to turn that around: try to catch your employees doing something right!  And then praise them for it.  You'll be surprised at how much goodwill  capital you'll  develop within your organization.  This attitude by management will  be difficult to find in another company who may want to recruit your best employees; money alone won't drag them away.

Hand  out your own "gold, silver and bronze" awards.

Just as the International Olympic Committee sets forth policies  and procedures for hopeful contestants to follow, so does your company's  policies and procedures manual (and if you don't have  one, you'd better make this  a priority now).  Any benchmark for recognition and/or awards should be based on how well an employee meets and  exceeds all of your benchmark policies (attendance, customer compliments, job proficiency and efficiency, attitude, compatibility with fellow coworkers, willingness to go above and beyond and so forth).  You can tie the awards  in with your periodic performance  reviews,  but sometimes  an  unexpected recognition is a powerful, positive reinforcement, too. 

While you can purchase plaques, trophies, pins, rings and other engraveable items inexpensively, such memorabilia can have a million dollar impact on the morale of your  employees.   And by the way, you NEVER present such an award in private; always in front of  the recipient's peers (and, even better if done at a company event where spouses are present).

You  may, of course,  choose to accompany the award with monetary recognition or some other reward as well.  Depending  on the achievement itself, this  could include a weekend getaway, a dinner at a high-end restaurant, queen for a day limo ride, or  some other event which the recipient is unlikely to  have experienced before. 

IN SHORT, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF RECOGNITION AND  AWARDS!