Feel-good promotions?

Everyone wants to feel good about themselves. Are you associating yourself or your company with that good feeling? If you are not, you should be.

Great companies and great leaders have a talent for nurturing and bringing out the best in their people and making their clients and customers feel delighted and positive.

It is amazing to me how many companies either don’t realize this or don’t know how to go about it. Here’s a short blog on a couple of great examples that made me feel on top of the world. Could these ideas help you too?

One of the first times I had such and experience was during the Internet dot.com days. I flew from Tokyo to California to attend a Red Herring “NDA” Conference. Red Herring had set up a booth with a photographer. The photographer took my portrait and, within an hour, I had my face on the cover of the latest edition of Red Herring Magazine – billed as “Entrepreneur of the Year”!

Over a decade later people who come into my office and see it framed on the wall still comment on it. Of course it was a fake magazine cover. But it made me feel like a real million dollars!

Talk about great long-term promotion!

Another great - and even better and totally unexpected - one was when the Autodesk head of Asia Pacific presented me with a mounted crystal (OK – OK, Plexiglas) plaque stating the company “Recognizes Roger J. Marshall of Odgers Berndtson for Business Partner Excellence”. What did I do to deserve this great award? Not much. I merely handled a key regional retained executive search engagement for them in Japan.

As opposed to the fake magazine cover, this award was for real!

Can you believe that? I do my job the right way AND I get an award? Wow! Call me a sucker but I was totally pumped.

This award also still sits proudly in my office and still garners positive comment from all who see it.

Awards and promotions like this make people feel good about themselves. When people feel good, and associate that good feeling with your company, then you win.

Is there anything your company can do to make your people and customers feel great about themselves?