Like all of the best things in life, it arrived unexpectedly.
It was a small note with just my name at the top and very clearly handwritten.
It was from someone who chaired a committee I was part of and someone whom I had long looked up to.
She was a tour de force of a leader and someone who I have often used as a benchmark of how to read a room and lead a team.
And there she was, writing to me.
She was thanking me for my contributions – and then she shared something on the note her father had told her. It was something I have never forgotten.
“My father once told me that there are two types of people — those who do the work, and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group. There was much less competition.”
I was so grateful.
And I wasn’t simply grateful for the words, but for the effort behind them.
She had sat down, picked up a pen, and chosen to make me feel seen.
And the effect of her effort and simple gesture?
Every time I showed up to that committee after receiving her note, I showed up with more energy, giving more of myself. Every time.
That small act had such a big reach and of course, it had me thinking about what we are leaving on the table in our workplaces.
Effort Signals Value
There is an important lesson here about a handwritten note.
The lesson is that it costs something.
Not money, but time. And that signals intention.
It is the conscious decision to stop, reflect on someone, find paper and pen, and put thought into words.
In my policing career, I will always remember the day when I was called into my Superintendent’s office because he had received a handwritten letter, on courthouse stationary, from a judge that I had given evidence in front of earlier that day.
My boss told me the moment that I entered his office and waved the letter in my direction that he had never, ever received a handwritten letter from a judge before.
My amygdala kicked in as I prepared to listen to my fate, but instead of being a reprimand of some sort that had triggered the need to write, the Judger shared a compliment.
Again, something I will never forget.
A text takes five seconds.
An email takes two minutes.
But a handwritten note?
That is an entirely different level of commitment.
And the person receiving it feels that difference, even if they can’t always name it.
In a world saturated with digital noise, the physical act of writing something down by hand sends an unmistakable signal: you were worth my time.
That is a message no emoji can replicate.
For supervisors, this matters enormously. The people on your team are always watching you in order to understand whether they matter to you.
Not just as resources or headcount, but as people.
A handwritten note achieves something a performance review can never match.
I see you.
Specificity Is the Secret
Back to my handwritten note and the Judge’s handwritten letter.
What made them matter so much was not just the fact that they were handwritten.
It was because of what they said.
The committee chair did not simply write “Great job!” or “Thanks for everything.”
No. She shared something personal — her father’s wisdom, which she connected directly to what she had observed in me.
That level of specificity tells the recipient: I actually paid attention. I thought about you, specifically.
The Judge’s letter specifically documented detailed the way in which I had delivered my evidence in front of the court – and it was something he told me he had appreciated.
Generic praise is easy to dismiss. “You did a great job on that project” rolls off the back.
But “The way you stayed calm when the timeline shifted and kept the whole team focused — that made a real difference” sticks.
It sticks because it is true, and because it proves you were watching.
Please remember that the most powerful appreciation is always specific.
It names a behaviour, a moment, or a quality — and connects the dots to why it mattered.
When a supervisor does that, it doesn’t just make someone feel good in the moment.
It tells them: keep doing that. This is who you are at your best.
The Ripple Effect of One Genuine Act
There is something else about the handwritten note and letter that I wanted to share with you.
They did not just make me feel appreciated in the moment, but they changed how I showed up afterward.
Every time I returned to that committee after receiving her note, I arrived with more energy.
I was more focused. I was more engaged. With more willingness to contribute fully.
One person’s intentional act of appreciation did not just affect me — it rippled outward to everyone I worked with.
And this is the part that supervisors sometimes underestimate.
Appreciation is not just a nice thing to do.
It is a performance strategy.
Research consistently shows that employees who feel genuinely recognized are more engaged, more productive, and more likely to go above and beyond — not because they have to, but because they want to.
There is a brilliant TEDTalk video we show in some of our leadership workshops. The Power of Appreciation by Mike Robbins. It is well worth a look.
And appreciation it compounds.
When one person on a team feels seen and valued, they tend to show up differently — which affects team morale, which affects output, which affects results.
The return on a five-minute investment in a handwritten note is absolutely incalculable.
Bringing It Together
Please do not wait for a special occasion.
You do not need a milestone or a performance cycle.
You just need a few minutes, something worth saying, and the willingness to say it in a way that costs you something — because that cost is exactly what makes it mean something.
Pause for a moment right now please……….
Think about someone on your team who does the work — quietly, consistently, without waiting for applause. I wrote about them in a recent Workplace YOU 2.0 newsletter – calling them Load Bearers.
It is the person who shows up, follows through, and makes everyone around them better.
The person her father would have pointed to.
Do they know that you have noticed?
Because here’s what I have learned: the people who do the work often assume they are invisible.
They are too busy doing the work to advocate for themselves.
And they do not seek nor need the spotlight.
They just show up.
A handwritten note says: I see you. I was watching. And what you do matters.
That is not just good leadership.
It is the sort of thing people remember for the rest of their careers.
I know because it happened to me.
And now I am asking you to follow suit.
This week’s reflection:
When did you last take five minutes to write something down for someone on your team — not in a review, not in an email message, but in a way that cost you something?
If this message resonated with you, consider sharing it with a colleague or leader in your network who might benefit from a different way of thinking about leadership.
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This work is about helping people show up better—one conversation, one leader, and one workplace at a time.
Thank you for being here each time – I never take for granted the time you take to read me here.
I am passionate about Creating Incredibly Better Workplaces by focusing on the people, relationships, supervision and leadership in today’s workplaces…wherever they may be.
And perhaps I can be of service to you?
