The awesome power of recognition.

• Author: Novak, David
• Position: Book review

From O Great One! by David Novak with Christa Bourg. Copyright [c] 2016 by the authors. Published by Portfolio/Penguin (www.penguin.com).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

OGO--short for O Great One--is the name my grandkids have called me ever since they could talk. It may sound a bit over the top, but it came about because when my daughter was pregnant with her first child, I didn't want to be called grandpa, poppy or any of the usual names. I wanted something a bit more fun and different. It was also easy for my grandkids to say, so it stuck.

Since then, OGO has become much, much more than just a nickname my family calls me. It has come to represent something I've practiced and encouraged throughout my entire life: the awesome power of recognition.

I've seen how impactful recognition can be. I've also witnessed how devastating it can be when it's absent from the life of an individual, a team, and even a large organization. Often people think of recognition as the kind of fluffy feel-good stuff that businesses talk about to try to make their employees happy. But if used right, it does a whole lot more than that. Simply put: if you give people the recognition they've earned, if you show genuine appreciation and acknowledge the unique things...