Reflecting back on my days in the Army, there are two moments that are most memorable for me. The first was an award ceremony where several soldiers, including myself, were recognized at the end of an almost year-long deployment in Turkey.  The second was my graduation from Ranger School.

Here's one thing every leader must know. People want to know that their contributions matter.

But recognition efforts often fail when the following happens:

There couldn't be a better week to talk about gratitude. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are some ideas to show gratitude toward your people.

In Part 1 of this series we talked about the "case" for recognition. In Part 2, we have debunked some of the myths around recognition, the next steps are to put a framework in place for an effective recognition program.

In The Carrot Principle, the authors outline a four-level approach to recognition that is straight forward and easy to implement.

I just ran the Steamboat half-marathon this past weekend and had a blast. The half-marathon course starts at around 7,200 feet above sea level and winds through the most beautiful countryside you can imagine into the western style downtown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. As I ran through the cheering crowds along the last mile of the course, I was amazed at how much faster I started running. It made me think about the importance of recognition in the work place.