Fill a Few Buckets

Do you want to be a great leader?  Fill a few buckets.

Do you want to get more productivity out of a group of employees?  Feel a few buckets.

Do you want a healthier marriage/relationship?  Do a lot of bucket filling.

“What do you mean by ‘fill a few buckets?’” you ask.

It means give a lot more praise than criticism.

Appreciate a person more than you depreciate them.

Tom Peters wrote a book called In Search of Excellence.  In it he promoted the management concept of ‘catch people doing something right and shout it out.”

Catch People doing Something Right

That is the way to fill someone’s bucket.  Anyone can point out a hundred things we do wrong on any given day – however, tell them what they did “right” and watch what happens.

A boss who regularly fills his/her employee’s buckets could decrease the risk of a stroke in those employees by 33%.  (How Full is Your Bucket – Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.)

Here are some sad statistics pointed out in this great book – How Full Is Your Bucket.

“The number one reason people leave their jobs is because they do not feel appreciated.”

And another …

“65% of Americans received no recognition in the workplace last year.”

Tom and Dr. Don continue.  “Bucket filling is an extraordinarily powerful leadership strategy.”

Let me see …

Criticize my team and watch productivity go down.

Praise them and we all win.  Hmmmm.

Verbally put people in their place and have a continual revolving door of new employees that continually need costly training.

Esteem my employees, appreciate them and keep them longer, lower my training costs, increase efficiency and the overall health of my employees. 

I’m all about filling a few buckets as I go along in this life. 

Will you join me?

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time