Michael Wallace, our Vancouver Manager, shared the following story. “During the pandemic, it became clear to our team that this is something we can get through so long as we do it together. Juliane Ditzler has been leading a side project in which she randomly picks someone from our team and goes around collecting little comments and affirmations from the rest of the team and presents them in the form of a card that she puts together. When the card is delivered, there tend to be a few teary eyes. This project has been a touching one, and as Juliane is in the command seat of the project, she herself has not been in this rotation to also hear how amazing she is. I would like her to be acknowledged for her kindness, employee satisfaction, and dedication to the employees that are a part of program 34. Thank you, Juliane.” 

Anyone Can Share Appreciation

I just love this story and it reminded me of walking through the Cincinnati airport last Fall. I was grabbing a coffee at Starbucks and noticed this board of affirmations with a stack of sticky notes and pens next to it. It caught my attention and I enjoyed reading the sentiments that were shared. These were notes of sentiment that the general public was sharing with one another. I took a picture of the board and of a few that brought a smile or warmed my heart. This public board filled by complete strangers impacted me. It got me thinking about the meaning behind thoughtful affirmations. I aspire to have the natural gift of affirmations such as Juliane clearly does. While I often think in terms of affirmations, I am not consistent about expressing them to those around me-personally or professionally. It is an area I want to continue to grow. 

I encourage each of us to think about how to share meaningful words of appreciation to our colleagues, friends, and family. This always matters, possibility even more these days.