When I was a young lieutenant in The Marines I read a book from a retired Marine and one of the parts of it that stuck with me was to say thanks. He said, for Christmas, before you release your people for the holiday, put them in formation and walk through the formation, stopping at each one to look him in the eye, shake his hand, thank him for his service and wish him a Merry Christmas.

Sounds simple. Even sounds a bit corny but it works. In the years since then I have done this with my people whenever possible. I have coached people to do it and no one has ever regretted taking the time to do it.

Sure, you might not put them in formation but you can still visit and thank them. This can extend to others beyond your employees. What about the mailman? The clerk at Starbucks or wherever. Go for it.

Peace on earth and good will towards all men says the song. You can do something about the good will part. Just say thanks…

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 4:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.