Today I went to the farewell of someone that is moving on to bigger things in government. I was surprised at how few of the people I knew in the room. Out of 50-60 people there were about 3 from my organization and the farewell was at our organization. Interesting. There have been some difficult feelings between our organization and the organization that this person represented in a partnership.
Anyway, the person came up and spoke to me for about five minutes about moving on, how much she appreciated my efforts to rise above the politics and how she would keep in touch periodically. I, of course, congratulated her on the new opportunity and expressed interest in keeping in touch.
The amazing thing is how powerful a compliment can feel coming from a powerful person. Don’t get me wrong – compliments however huge or humble always give me a wonderful feeling inside. It gives me confidence. However, sometimes a compliment from a person in power adds this extra drive and focus in your work efforts. It makes you feel like you are closer to the top than you are and that perhaps you can play in the big leagues of business.
It made the rest of my day. I was able to give compliments freely and stay focused on the tasks of my day. It gave me hope that I could move forward and possibly surpass some of my peers and even upper management.
Aaaaah, the power of the compliment. So powerful that I’m sitting here writing about it so I can savor this moment before I get back to doing my work. It is 6:03 p.m. at night, but hey…I’m more motivated now, right?
