"Most of us know intuitively whether someone is being a genuine leader, or is simply "doing their leadership thing." One of the major indicators is how much we feel that person cares about us and our opinions."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Cheer Leaders Inspire Others"

"Too often managers think they're showing that they care by giving people patronizing pats on the head. These may take the form of goodies such as gifts, parties, long-service trinkets, trivial newsletters, or "royal visits" (occasional "touring of the troops" with much bowing and scraping). Not that these things are necessarily bad. Like anything, they are neither bad nor good in themselves, but in how they're used. When they substitute for treating people as respected and highly valuable partners, they increase cynicism and widen the we/they gap between management and people on the frontlines."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Cheer Leaders Inspire Others"

"Effective leaders use a lot of ways to build an atmosphere of accomplishment and pride through recognition and appreciation. But the leaders should not be the central figures in control of the goodies. They should encourage recognition and appreciation up, down and across the organization and within and among teams."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Exception is A Poor Rule"

"Most high-performance cultures are those that radiate sincere recognition. It's also clear that they're led by managers with well-developed personal recognition skills. They know that brains and hearts go where they are truly appreciated."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Exception is A Poor Rule"

"Reward systems and recognition practices speak volumes about your organization's values. Are they designed and delivered to employees - or with them? Do they reflect a management view of "we know what's best for you?" Are they partial and piecemeal or part of a larger system and philosophy?"

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "How to Make Effort Rewarding"

"Be careful when offering money or recognition for employee suggestions. This can lead to conflict rather than co-operation. Individuals and groups often end up jealously protecting their ideas or arguing about the source of ideas. Suggestion systems also separate idea generation from implementation."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "How to Make Effort Rewarding"

"Like customer service and quality, reward and recognition are highly subjective. Just as they monitor the changing needs of customers, effective leaders constantly try to understand the shifting perceptions and values of everyone in their organization."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "How to Make Effort Rewarding"

"Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, many managers believe money is more rewarding than recognition and appreciation. You should balance your incentive plans and reward systems with generous amounts of 'thanks pay.'"

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "How to Make Effort Rewarding"

"Involve team members, individuals or managers in developing their own incentive and reward systems. A study of group incentive plans in 144 U.S. companies by consultant Towers Perrin concludes that those plans with the highest levels of effectiveness also had the highest levels of employee involvement in design."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "How to Make Effort Rewarding"

"You never know when someone
May catch a dream from you.
You never know when a little word
Or something you may do
May open up the windows
Of a mind that seeks the light...
The way you live may not matter at all,
But you never know, it might."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Leaders Energize and Inspire"

"My wife, Heather, has taught me the value of sending each other cards for every occasion (birthdays, anniversaries, Mothers/Father's day, Valentine's day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.). It's a powerful appreciation habit. She's also shown how important and valued a short personal note of thanks can be. Put those occasions in your calendar. Send notes to team members' homes. It's those little things that over time make a big difference."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Pathways and Pitfalls to Giving Personal Recognition and Appreciation"

"Only two groups of people thrive on sincere recognition and genuine appreciation — men and women. Reflecting on a life of pioneering work, the 19th century American philosopher and psychologist, William James, said, 'I now perceive one immense omission in my psychology — the deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated.' "

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Recognition and Appreciation Inspires and Energizes"

"The thousands of choices and daily decisions of our yesterdays have accumulated and determined where we are today. If we want to change where we'll be tomorrow, we'll have to make different choices today."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "The Choice is Ours"

"One study showed that 46% of people who quit their jobs did so because they felt unappreciated. No doubt as many kids and spouses gave up on their families for the same reason. A key leadership question is whether we're building a 'thank you' or 'spank you' culture."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "The Power of Recognition, Appreciation, and Celebration"

"Decades of research and dozens of studies show again and again that while money can be a de-motivator, it is rarely a good motivator. Money always shows up as fourth or fifth on any list of motivational factors. Pay gets people to show up for work. But pay doesn't get many to excel. More important is interesting, challenging, or meaningful work, recognition and appreciation, a sense of accomplishment, growth opportunities, and the like."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Weak Leaders Try to Use Money as a Motivator"