Featured Commentary:
Recognition and the Art of becoming Famous

by Bill Gray, CCSP Staff Writer
April 22, 2004

Well not really, but hey, there is hope if you follow this little dialogue. The first lesson is given to us by Corra May White Harris 1869-1935 who was an American Writer, who said........

“The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly”

There is no point in being timid. Think of the people who have influenced you and the traits they brought that affected you. What is it that they do or not do that you want to have in your life?

If they had a negative effect on you what are the traits you don’t want to have in your life?

Both these sides of the equation will give you something to think about.

Next recognize that everyone wants recognition

Six months ago I was asked by a company owner to coach him through a problem he was having inside his company. He owned a small manufacturing company with approx 15 employees that was caught short due to their success. The owner of the company promoted a few of the workers to management positions and hired more workers. The work kept rolling in and he hired more workers. Everyone was busy but for some reason, the staff that were there at the beginning of this expansion, were bickering and undermining each other.

What happened? Well, when the promotions happened some of the staff felt that their skills had been overlooked and they felt that they weren’t being recognised for their contribution. They immediately began to complain to their fellow workers, criticize the owner and the managers, and this trickled down into the new employees.

This bickering got so bad that the production was affected; orders were late getting out and, in many instances, were wrong. The effect on the company was immediate and incredible, a few of the newly employed workers resigned due to clashes with the original staff, the orders fell further behind and then some were canceled. I meet the owner about this time.

He explained the position, how he saw it. He explained how he had wanted to promote all the originals but was caught because he also needed some of them to teach the new employees. He explained how he had failed to tell anyone these points as everyone was so busy and he was caught up in trying to meet deadlines and forgot. He now, was of the opinion, that these originals didn’t deserve any special recognition due to their disruptive behavior. He also had sacked two of the originals for stealing and had called a meeting of all staff to put an end to all the bad feelings. This had a disastrous effect with a couple of the original staff left on the floor resigning and the new managers having to go back onto the floor to groove in the new employees. The company was falling apart at the seams.

Now the owner was the first to admit he had made mistakes. He hadn’t explained himself well and he wasn’t the “people person” he wished he was. He was a hard worker and it was this hard work that was paying the dividends in the success.

So what was the lesson in all this?

Well first and foremost, just because you are overlooked for a promotion or a pay rise, how you think it is, probably isn’t the right answer!

In the example above, the staff left on the floor were the ones with the best skills on the floor. In his haste to keep ahead of the orders, the owner had left the ones who understood the manufacturing process best, on the floor and “promoted” some of the others (there was no pay increase just a title change and a different role which was misconstrued as a promotion to the staff on the floor).

His inability to explain it had lead to the idea that the floor staff were less valuable when in actual fact he considered them to be the most valuable.

The rest is history, the company nearly went out of business, people lost their jobs and it all came about due to misunderstandings by all concerned. Six months later the company is back to where it was when the graph started to head skyward. There is a new group of workers, all the originals who remained are now in managerial roles and the workers and the management are sharing in the profit.

How do you gain this recognition you so richly deserve?

Well it starts by identifying those who are around you that make the decisions and have an influence on your life. It may be your boss, manager, mother, friend; you will know who these people are.

The next step is making sure that those people you have identified are gaining recognition as well. Always push recognition toward the people you identify. Make sure you clean up after them, put out any fires and generally make their life standout more. As their recognition grows so will yours.

Don’t ever feel weaker because you work for someone, or feel someone may be in a stronger position. Your only failure lies in undermining or pulling down that identity, on which you are depending on for this recognition. All failures to increase the recognition of these people, is a failure to contribute to and sustain the recognition you have gained. By pulling down those above or around you also undermines your position.

Make sure those who undermine or put down are reminded of this fact.

When you are recognised for the work you are doing, make sure that those that are around you are also recognised, for it has been these people who have contributed to your success. Be clear about this, for the people around you can bring you tumbling down as soon as you appear to be oblivious to them or they feel like you aren’t giving them the recognition they deserve. So be brave and support those around you and the recognition will come.

....and for those of you who were reading this for the joke well here it is...


Rachel and Ruth were walking through the park after attending a seminar on business opportunities when a large toad jumped out on the path in front of them
“Please”, pleaded the toad, “will one of you kiss me so that I can turn into a handsome Prince”?
Rachel picked up the toad and put it in her handbag.
“Aren’t you going to kiss him and turn him into a Prince?” asked Ruth.
“No way”, replied Rachel, “Princes are a dime a dozen but a talking toad – now there’s an opportunity for making big bucks!”

and now for the joke….

The old gent was backing his Rolls into the last available parking space when a zippy red sports car whipped in behind him to take the spot. The young man jumped out and said, “Sorry Pops, but you’ve got to be young and smart to do that”
The old man ignored the remark and kept reversing until the Rolls had crushed the sports car into a crumpled heap.
“Sorry son, but you’ve got to be old and rich to do that!”

Until next week….
Cheers… Bill


by Bill Gray aka Blast, ComputerCops Staff Writer

Bill is a Business Coach. Working with Businesses and Organisations to create better environments and to develop and enhance business 'potential', into successful business practices.

Website in the Company of Coaches

Copyright ©Bill Gray All Rights Reserved 2004.