When there is an “I” in team

You’ve heard it a million times. “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” 

But I’m starting to notice a pattern: There are times when there is an “I” in team. And it’s usually when that team does a poor job recognizing each other’s accomplishments. In the absence of a good “thank you”, “nice job”, or “atta girl”, people will give one to themselves. 

“All my jobs are making money.” 

“I don’t know why I have to come up with all the ideas.” 

“I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I can’t control if the team does what they’re supposed to do.” 

And look, before you disagree, I acknowledge that some people are selfish jerks who use “I” because they really don’t care about others. No arguments. But I’m also very intrigued by the idea that not all people who use the “I” word are selfish or bad teammates, but rather that they’re normal people who are begging someone to notice what they’re doing and give them recognition for it. 

I spend time in construction companies across the country and can tell you for fact that I hear a lot less of the word “I” and a lot more of the word “we” inside of organizations with solid cultures built on a foundation of gratitude. 

So, here’s the bottom line: If you want to be a great place to work, you need to get employee recognition right. But how do you do it? Here’s some ideas. 

Culture of Gratitude 

One business owner who I respect a lot recently told me, “There’s a reason why attitude rhymes with gratitude. Every day, you get to choose your attitude. And every day, you get to choose if it will be an attitude of gratitude.” 

I loved that. And I think it illustrates how some construction companies separate themselves from the pack. They spend an uncommon amount of time, energy, and money on making their teams feel appreciated and important. And the only reason they can afford to do it is because employees who feel appreciated and important do really good work. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle. 

One really simple way to demonstrate gratitude is the simple email exchange. A solid “Thank you for getting this out tonight!” from a boss to an employee goes a long way. And only takes 30 seconds to send. There’s some management advice that states the target ratio for gratitude to constructive feedback is 3:1. Sending an email isn’t the whole story, but you can sure express a lot of gratitude using it. 

Another great way to demonstrate your gratitude is to reward employees with flexibility: when they deliver fantastic results for you, give them freedom. This means let them run home to take care of their dog, or pick up their kid’s from school, or schedule a doctor’s appointment during the day. This kind of gratitude demonstrates trust. Note: If you’re an employee reading this, it’s important you know that this is not something you receive just for working at a company. It’s something you receive because you work your butt off, keep getting results, and give flexibility back to the company. That’s an important distinction because I think too many employees have come to expect this kind of flexibility without giving anything in return. 

People also really love to have their voice heard. If you want to really make one of your employees feel appreciated, go ask them for advice on how to deal with a challenging situation you’re dealing with. Ask their opinion on how to handle it. Really consider it. Thank them so much for the ideas. Whether you implement it or not is dependent on the quality of advice, but gosh darn it there’s a lot of gratitude that forms by getting to share your opinion to someone you respect. 

There’s a lot more ways—like investing in training, especially leadership development programs—but the final one I’ll touch on here is the gratitude that you can express through a well-designed employee incentive program. We hear from owners all the time about how employees have come to expect bonuses—regardless of the business’s result. They are right. Especially in situations where employees don’t understand why or how they get their bonus! They spend the whole year hoping they’ll get it instead of clearly understanding how it is tied to the success of the business. If you want to flesh out your culture of gratitude with an incentive feature, teach your people about financial acumen, then build them a clear incentive program where they know how to win. (And if you don’t know how to do that, we’re really good at it, so reach out any time). 

It’s about “we” 

The more you can create a culture of gratitude, the more your people will start thinking about WE instead of I. I bet you’ll feel a lot more fulfilled working with a team like that too. So, focus on getting recognition right. You won’t regret it. 

Spark Notes:

• When teams fail to recognize each other's accomplishments, individuals will naturally seek their own validation - simple acts of gratitude like a quick email from a boss can make all the difference.

• Rewarding great performance with flexibility builds trust and loyalty, but employees need to earn it by delivering results and reciprocating that flexibility.

• Employees feel valued when their opinions are sought and considered, reinforcing a culture of appreciation that drives engagement and collaboration.

• A strong culture of gratitude, reinforced by clear incentive programs and consistent recognition, shifts the focus from "I" to "we" and leads to stronger, more successful teams.