Let me tell you about a new book that I’m recommending to leaders. It makes a great book for your leaders to read together as part of a book group.

Human Value is one of the elements of a Connection Culture that I teach leaders to create if they want to engage the people they lead to give their best efforts.  The definition of Human Value is when everyone in the organization understands the needs of people, appreciates them for their positive, unique contributions and helps them achieve their potential.  As the definition states, appreciation is essential.

Unfortunately, appreciation is frequently expressed in a language that is foreign to the individual on the receiving end.  This is a source of frustration when one individual expresses appreciation in his or her language (which is usually the case) and the recipient experiences appreciation in a different language.  Learning to express appreciation in ways that resonate with people is an important skill for all human beings, and especially for leaders.

Gary Chapman and Paul White’s new book, The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, identifies the different types of appreciation that resonate with people and when and how to express them.  The five languages are acts of service, words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, and physical touch.  People have primary, secondary and, in some cases, tertiary languages of appreciation. Chapman and White’s research indicates that physical touch is not a primary language in the workplace and recommend that leaders focus on the other four languages.

This book is relevant to your relationships outside of work too.  In fact, if you are interested in the five languages as they relate to marriage, parenting children or teenagers, I recommend that you check out Gary Chapman’s books on those specific topics.  I read Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages and the Five Love Languages of Teenagers years ago and it helped me connect better with my wife and daughters.  I’m a big fan of the five love languages and the languages of appreciation and hope you’ll check them out.

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