Giving someone a sincere compliment is a way to connect, praise, and build a relationship with that person. I don’t mean in a phony kissing-up kind of way. I mean noticing and appreciating the exemplary work or behavior that this person has exhibited. If compliments are a form of praise and appreciation for our actions, why are we consistently bad at receiving compliments? The answer to that is somewhat complicated, but according to Christopher Littlefield, it has to do with four things. Compliments can take us by surprise, which causes us to freeze momentarily, find an explanation for what’s happening, shift our perspective, and share our experiences.
According to Christopher, compliments are more about the giver than the receiver. This episode dives into how to give and receive compliments and why they are so crucial to creating connections and building relationships. Christopher Littlefield specializes in employee appreciation, recognition, and workplace culture. He is the founder of Beyond Thank You, an organization that helps increase employee engagement. He’s trained thousands of leaders to understand what people need to be their best.
He is a regular contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review and the author of 75+Team Building Activities for Remote Teams: Simple Ways to Build Trust, Strengthen Communications, and Laugh Together, a book about building and engaging a team. We talk about the psychology of the power behind compliments. Christopher even shares an experience where the power of compliments helped resolve a workplace conflict. We talk about feeling valued, continuously building relationships, and the importance of focusing on progress. Christopher walks us through how and why to appreciate the recognition and how to give and receive compliments gracefully.
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Christopher Littlefield thank you so much for being here!
Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself.
Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.
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Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.
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