How good are you at Appreciating Others?

Did you know that Appreciating Others is a competency that you can develop? We define the Appreciating Others competency as, "identifying with and caring about others."  Who do you know who is highly skilled at Appreciating Others?

With practice, you can grow and develop this skill just like other "hard skills" you might be good at like cooking, public speaking, employee coaching, or playing golf.

How do I grow as a leader: Appreciating Others?

Those with a highly developed skill of Appreciating Others exhibit the following:

• Demonstrates genuine concern for others.
• Respects and values people.
• Wants to ensure people experience positive emotions.
• Expends considerable effort to impact the needs, concerns, and feelings of others.
• Advocates for the interests needs and wants of others.
• Demonstrates sensitivity and understanding.
• Takes personal and/or professional risks for the sake of others.
• Recognizes and enjoys the good qualities of others.
• Provides support, appreciation and recognition.
• Displays kindness and concern for others.

Behaviorally, it comes more naturally and requires less focus for some of us to Appreciate Others. For the rest of us, it is a skill we may need to invest energy into developing in order to be more effective. Our Driving Forces will reward for some skills and not others. If your job or your environment demands something from you that isn't naturally present in your Behaviors or Driving Forces, you can develop it in your Competencies. 

What about you? How developed are you at the competency of Appreciating Others? What about the people on your team? Is this something you want your team to be strong in?