Have you wondered if there was anything you could do that would be so profound, causing a ripple effect yet not cost you a cent?

Well, there is.

It's about satisfying a very basic human need. According to Dale Carnegie, recognizing other people is the secret to making friends and influencing others. Abraham Lincoln once said "everybody likes a compliment." The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. Dale Carnegie said "the desire for feeling of importance is one of the chief distinguishing differences between mankind and animals."

Good leaders know how to offer encouragement and appreciation to people that work for them. The leader who knows how to satisfy other people's hunger for recognition will hold the world in the palm of his/her hand. There's a wonderful chapter in Carnegie's book entitled ''He Who Can Do This Has the Whole World with Him. He Who Cannot Walks a Lonely Way."

Translation: If you can find a way to recognize people for their strengths and show them appreciation, you will have many friends and followers. If you cannot, you will be alone - so very alone.

Food for thought: Think about it. Who do you think will rally around and give you support in times of adversity? People you appreciate and recognize or people you ignore?