Praise with Permission by Safety Motivational Speaker John Drebinger
I am sure you have heard the statement you should correct or reprimand people in private and recognize people for positive things in public. I learned an important distinction about this from my good friend Scott Geller. He pointed out in one of his presentations the importance of recognizing people in a positive way with their permission.
What are the reasons we give praise to others? Making them feel good about what they have done, creating in them a desire to continue to do good things, encouraging others to also do the right things. If we really want to do something nice for someone in recognizing them, we should do so with their permission. They might not want public recognition as it might embarrass them. Posting a picture of the employee of the month might be nice for some and for others not so much.
As the opening safety motivational speaker for a governmental agency, I experienced the importance of this lesson. The person in charge wanted to recognize two employees who had received the Governor’s Safety Award. Their idea was to have these two individuals introduce me as the safety speaker of the day. It turns out I had already interviewed them and knew them. I asked the person in charge if the two employees wanted to introduce me and the response was they had not been asked. From my interview, I knew the two of them weren’t comfortable speaking to groups. Their jobs were also a tip. They did trail maintenance in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. These are people who sought out a career of solitude and specifically not of crowds.
When we went to ask them one of the guys actually started to tremble. I then suggested the person in charge introduce me and then asked them if it would be alright during my talk if I mentioned I was the keynote motivational safety speaker at the Governor’s Safety Awards for the State of California. I would then mention two of the recipients were in the audience and I would ask them to stand and be recognized. They both smiled and said they would like that. It all worked out fine.
The secret is to ask them how they want to be recognized and you will make their day. It is just like all communication, it must be done with the audience in mind.
