“Strong people don’t put others down. They lift them up.” Michael P Watson
When someone in your workplace does something great or achieves a goal, how do you respond? If you feel challenged or threatened by their success that will determine your actions. If you feel confident in your own abilities, there is no need to be threatened by the success of someone else. Putting others down, doesn’t change our own position. Yet often we can be tempted to be a “drain” and not a “fountain”.
“We rise by lifting others.” Robert Ingersoll
On our team, that quote is very important to all of us. We strive to serve and lift each other up. We are reminded that "a rising tide lifts all boats". It takes a quality person to lift the people around them. However, life is better that way.
You will probably have noticed that whenever you give credit away to others, it comes back around anyway. You can’t lift people to heights you have not been to yourself. So- to give a compliment shows your own confidence that you are a person with the quality of noticing others. In addition, to give a compliment, you have the competence, energy and courage to say something. To be able to give a genuine compliment is the sign of a top quality person. Good leaders give compliments to their people. They are generous and genuine with their praise for the good stuff that happens. They feed into a culture of respect, and lifting other people up.
Stingy people don’t give compliments. Those with little self awareness and social awareness don’t give compliments.
Can you find two people to give a genuine complement to today?
At UPP, we are trying to create a shift in our entire culture towards lifting others instead of putting people down. Through our Positive Peer Relationships and Stronger Connections workshops, students build personal and social skills to enhance their relationships with each other. They learn about lifting others up and get opportunities to put that into practice. They learn the skills which help them have more positive interactions, build better relationships, lift others and resolve conflict.
Key Learnings from the workshops...
BUILDING EMPATHY- developing respect, appreciating differences and understanding of equality of all people
ACTIVE LISTENING- practical conversation skills for strengthening relationships.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION- learning how to be assertive, rather than passive or aggressive.
SHOUT OUTS- encouraging other people by noticing good qualities in others and speaking them out with authenticity.
TEAM WORK- Working collaboratively in teams to achieve more.
Find out more at the links below.
Positive Peer Relationships workshop (for year 5 or year 6 students)
Stronger Connections workshop (for Secondary school students)