BUS 520 - Reflections: Strengthen Others Part I

Back when i was in the real estate business, I had always worked my butt off to try to close every deal. Literally, there wasn't a single day when I wasn't working. In order to cater to every client's schedule, I sacrificed all my nights and weekends. Friends around me perceived me as a workaholic. And in fact, I believe i was. I think that if I didn't give it my 110%, then I don't belong in this company. At the end of each month, I was always one of the ones with the most apartments sold. in recognition of my achievement, my supervisor publicly praised me in one of the monthly meetings. His exact words were: "Look at what you can do if you put your heart and soul into something that you feel passionate about."

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. In my mind, I didn't do what I did to get any praises, I was only doing something that I love to do. But then again, I did feel pretty good being recognized for my work. At that moment, I did not feel particularly powerful. Instead, this public praise allowed me to see myself as a capable and effective individual that is very good at what I was doing. In the days that followed, I continued to pour every once of my energy into my work. In return, I was granted the opportunity to handle bigger cases, which allowed me to sustain an above average lifestyle.

I think the most important thing I learned from this is that I did not let the praise get inside my head. Even though it's nice to be praised, but I remained grounded and never forgot what had gotten me the praise in the first place.