Culture, Coffee & Common Sense: You Are the Prize 🎁

You Are the Prize

What a colorful little box of Froot Loops reminded me about leadership, recognition and seeing what’s already there

P.S. We crossed 1,000 subscribers! There’s a special celebration—and a giveaway—waiting for you at the bottom of today’s issue.

Coffee Conversation ☕

I picked up a little box of Froot Loops from a breakfast buffet recently.

Not because they were the healthiest option on the buffet. Clearly. And not because I suddenly developed the breakfast habits of an eight-year-old.

I picked them up because they made me smile.

There’s something about all those brightly colored, sugary little circles that makes it hard to start the day in a bad mood.

But they also reminded me of something else.

The prize inside.

If you grew up in a certain era, you probably remember cereal boxes promising some sort of treasure inside. You might have dug your hand halfway through the box trying to find it. You might have dumped out more cereal than you intended. And sometimes, if you were lucky, the prize was actually worth all that effort.

As adults, we get pretty good at searching for prizes, too.

The next opportunity. The promotion. The recognition. The bigger client. The invitation. The title. The accomplishment that finally proves we've made it.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting those things. But somewhere along the way, I think we can forget something important:

You are the prize, too.

You bring experiences nobody else has. You have survived things that taught you lessons nobody else learned quite the same way. You have talents, instincts, stories, perspectives and ways of connecting with peoplem that are uniquely yours.

Knowing that isn’t arrogance. It’s awareness. And good leaders develop that same awareness about the people around them.

They learn to look past job titles, current performance, personality differences and the handful of people who naturally attract attention. They look for the prize inside everybody.

Sometimes that prize is easy to spot. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper. And sometimes the person themselves has forgotten it’s there.

That may be one of the most important opportunities we have as leaders.

Not simply to tell someone they did a good job. But to help them recognize something valuable in themselves that they hadn’t fully seen before.

Maybe it sounds like:

“I noticed how you handled that customer. You never became defensive, even when they were frustrated. That ability to stay calm is a real strength.”

Or:

“You ask questions nobody else in the room asks. Don’t lose that. It makes us think differently.”

Or:

“You may not realize this, but people trust you. When you speak, they listen.”

Those words can stick. I still remember things people saw in me before I saw them in myself. I’m betting you do, too.

And that makes me wonder:

Whose prize could you help uncover this week?

Maybe it’s someone on your team.

Maybe it’s a coworker who rarely gets the spotlight.

Maybe it’s a young professional who isn’t quite sure they belong in the room yet.

Or maybe the person who needs the reminder is you.

Either way, grab the Froot Loops if you want. Just don’t spend so much time looking for the prize that you miss the one that’s already there.

Research Worth Reading 🍵📖

Turns out, noticing the good in people isn't just a nice leadership gesture.

It affects what happens at work.

Gallup and Workhuman tracked nearly 3,500 employees over two years and found that employees who received high-quality recognition were 45% less likely to have left their organization two years later. Yet only 22% of employees said they receive the right amount of recognition for the work they do.

Another Gallup analysis found an especially interesting connection between recognition and feedback. Among employees who said they received both feedback and recognition from their manager at least weekly, 61% were engaged. For those who received weekly feedback but recognition less often, engagement dropped to 38%.

That distinction matters.

We often tell leaders they need to give more feedback. Maybe we should also be telling them to spend more time catching people doing something worth reinforcing.

Recognition isn't fluff.

Done well, it tells someone: I see what you did. I understand why it mattered. And I see what you're capable of.

That’s useful information.

Culture + Common Sense Takeaway 🚨

If you want people to bring their best to work, they need opportunities to recognize that they have a best to bring.

That doesn’t mean ignoring problems. It doesn't mean everyone gets a trophy. And it certainly doesn't mean leaders should hand out empty compliments just to make people feel good.

It means paying enough attention to notice contribution.

The common-sense version? People are more likely to repeat what gets noticed.

So look around your workplace. What are you noticing out loud? Only mistakes? Only missed deadlines? Only the big wins produced by the same handful of people?

Or are you also reinforcing the small behaviors that create the culture you say you want?

The employee who helps without being asked. The supervisor who shares information before people have to chase it down. The teammate who asks the uncomfortable but necessary question. The person who makes the new employee feel welcome. The leader who gives someone else the credit.

Those are prizes worth finding.

From My Notebook 📒

A few thoughts I scribbled down while thinking about this one: Recognition and praise aren't quite the same thing.

“Great job!” is praise.

“You took time to explain that process instead of making the new employee feel foolish for not knowing it. That's exactly how we build the kind of team we want” is recognition.

One makes someone feel good for a moment.

The other helps someone understand what they did well, why it mattered and what strength they should keep using.

And here's another thought: Sometimes leadership is less about developing something new in a person and more about helping them recognize what's already there.

That feels like an important distinction.

One Small Edit ✏️

You know I believe small edits can create big changes. So here’s one to try this week.

DELETE:

“Good job.”

Not because there’s anything wrong with saying it. But because we can do better.

INSERT:

“I noticed ________. It mattered because ________.”

Instead of: “Good job on the meeting.”

Try: “I noticed how you stopped and asked whether anyone had questions before moving to the next topic. That gave people permission to speak up, and we caught an issue we might have otherwise missed.”

Specific recognition helps people understand what to repeat.

One small edit. Much bigger impact.

Culture Secrets Spotlight 🔦

One of the pieces of my V.A.L.U.E. Culture Formula is Uniqueness.

Strong cultures don't require everyone to think alike, communicate alike or contribute in exactly the same way. They create an environment where people can bring what is distinct about them to the work.

But here's the catch: People have to believe that what they bring has value. That’s why belonging isn't simply about being invited into the room.

It’s also about knowing there is something you contribute once you're there.

Leaders help create that belief by noticing the strengths, perspectives and contributions that might otherwise go unseen.

Don't just give people a seat at the table. Help them understand why their voice matters once they get there.

Quote to Carry With You 🎙️

“Sometimes the prize isn't something you find. It's something you learn to see—in yourself and in the people around you.” — Chellie Phillips

One Last Sip ☕

Maybe that's why that silly little box of Froot Loops made me smile.

Sure, it reminded me of childhood. It reminded me that breakfast can occasionally involve an unreasonable amount of artificial color and sugar.

But it also reminded me that we spend a lot of life searching.

Searching for what's next.

Searching for validation.

Searching for talented people.

Searching for the thing that will make us successful.

Every once in a while, it's worth stopping the search long enough to notice what's already in front of us.

There are prizes all around you. And there’s one staring back at you in the mirror, too.

Don't forget to notice it.

Coming Up Around the Coffee Pot ☕️

Reba McEntire once said:

“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”

I love that.

But I think Reba left one thing off the list. Coffee.

Next time, we're talking wishbones, backbones, funny bones—and why I’m officially adding the coffee bone to the leadership anatomy.

Okay, technically there is no coffee bone. But give me an issue to make my case. ☕️

P.S. A Little Celebration Before You Go…​
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