Recognizing People for the Their Contribution

As a young second lieutenant my first Army assignment was a remote location in northern Greece.  Captain Bob Metzger was the unit commander.  Our mission was to secure sensitive equipment.  It was a 24/ 7 job that involved armed guards, fencing, lights and detailed security procedures.

One of the soldiers assigned to the unit was Private Johnson.  He might have been all of 19 years old.  His job was to keep all the generators working.  Normally we would have a more experienced soldier, a Sergeant, for this critical duty. 

One night in the middle of a violent storm we lost power.  As the duty officer I held my breath waiting for the generators to kick on.  They started and stopped, started and stopped several more times and then they died.  Without power for our security lights we needed to have 100 soldiers set up a perimeter around the storage area.   

We found out that the power wasn’t going to be restored for a week so we had to get the generators running in order to have lights.   The problem with the generators required parts which were at least 3 days away.  While we were without power, the 100 soldiers had to remain in the perimeter guarding the secure area all night. 

Johnson got busy that night working on the generators.  Metzger visited with him, encouraged him and provided support.  Johnson worked through the night, the next day and into the second night without stopping.  After much trial and error, he came up with a homemade remedy by using a part from one our kitchen stoves.  The generators worked, we had lights and we no longer had to have soldiers out in the perimeter all night.

There was a lot of relief as we could get some much needed sleep.  The next day, Metzger got all of us together where the generators were located.  He spoke about the generator problem and commended all of us for pitching in and keeping the area secure.  He then asked Johnson to come forward.  Metzger presented Johnson with a piece of plywood with a group picture of all of us and a copy of the make shift repair part attached to the board.  Across the top, Metzger wrote in magic marker – “The nights the lights went out, you got us up & running.”

I can still remember the look on Johnson’s face – he beamed.  He stood tall.  Metzger had touched him.  Johnson displayed that award in his barracks area.  Each time a new soldier was assigned to the unit, part of their orientation was to hear Johnson tell the story about the night the lights went out.

Making the award took Metzger less than half an hour. He was aware of Johnson’s fear of letting us all down.  The award was unique and reflected Metzger’s relationship with Johnson and knowing what it would take to recognize him.  The positive effect for Johnson and the rest of us was priceless.

To recognize someone you have to know the person, know what the person accomplished and the type of recognition which moves them.  While awards are one way to do this, a simple ‘thank you’ goes a long way.

Appreciation, acknowledgement, praise, thank you, some simple gesture that says, “I care about you and what you do” encourages us all.