When Joseph joined Ashfield Logistics, almost everyone gave him the same piece of advice, “Don’t take Mr. Bediako personally.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joseph laughed. “Why? Is he difficult?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No,” his colleague replied. “Just don\u2019t take him personally.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joseph soon found out what they meant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Bediako wasn’t rude. On the contrary he was quite polite. He paid attention to detail, gave clear instructions, and expected deadlines to be met. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he was quick to call out a mistake. One would expect him to maintain the same energy when they did an excellent job but no, he quickly moved on to the next task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Joseph completed his first client proposal, Mr. Bediako returned it with one comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Error on page four.” Nothing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal had taken almost two weeks to prepare. Joseph fixed the page and submitted it again. “Approved,” Mr. Bediako replied. That was the entire conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A month later, the proposal landed the company its biggest client of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joseph worked late revising budgets, meeting the client on the weekend and responding to their last-minute requests. So when the contract was finally signed, everyone hoped Mr. Bediako would acknowledge his efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he walked into the office, placed the signed documents on his table, and said, “The implementation phase starts on Monday. Let’s not slack.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was all and nobody was surprised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over time, Joseph noticed something about the department: if a task required only the minimum, the minimum was exactly what was given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then something happened that the team didn’t expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda resigned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was a Senior Business Development Executive, one of the strongest performers on the team. She had spent eight years with the company and had become the person everyone relied on when projects became difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her resignation caught management by surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her exit interview, HR asked the question they asked everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What made you decide to leave?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda thought for a moment before answering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I know when I’ve made a mistake in this company.” She paused. “I just never knew when I’ve done something well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The feedback reached Mr. Bediako a few days later. He read it more than once. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first, he dismissed it. People were paid to do their jobs. Why should anyone expect applause for meeting expectations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he looked at the files of the employees who had left his department over the past three years. They all had potential to be top performers but left regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he went through their exit interviews, one comment kept coming up in different words\u2026 they didn\u2019t feel valued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time, Mr. Bediako reconsidered his approach to recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as people needed to know when they had fallen short, they also needed to know when their work had made a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lessons for Leaders <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n