Each week ted.com sends thoughtful and thought provoking videos from their annual conference. In this week's issue came a 3 minute video by Laura Trice with a simple idea...ask for what you need to be praised for!

As she appropriately points out there are risks to doing this in the workplace,. After all, by asking for what you want to be praised for you will make yourself vulnerable, people will know where you are insecure. They could use it against you, but they could give you what you need!

And let's be clear, the greatest need we have as human beings is to be heard, understood and accepted for who we are. Yet haven't we all grown up with the idea that it is better to praise than be praised. Wrong! It is better to be both "praisor" and "praisee"!

As I thought about how this would work for managers and supervisors in the workplace several things came to mind:

1. Think about the people you directly supervise. What is an area you are pretty sure each of them feels insecure about. Praise them for what they do right in that area.

2. Listen to the way your employees dismiss or trash themselves. Praise them in those areas whenever possible.

3. Watch for moments when you thank someone and the person says something self-diminishing like, "Oh it wasn't a big deal", or "It took me long enough!", or "Just dong my job". Make them stop for a moment while you say thanks again and add something specific about how much it means to you or to the team or how lucky you are to have someone that takes the job seriously. This will help them to take the praise in rather than dismissing it.

4. Practice asking for what you really want to be praised for with people, perhaps in your personal life, who you feel safe with.. Maybe that will be your spouse or best friend. Try it! Just say, "I would really like a thank you from you for...". You may want to explain the concept of how important praise is and what a motivator it is.

5. Depending on your relationship with your own boss, you can try on it on him/her. Perhaps you can share the things you are doing with your employees (1,2 & 3 above) as a lead in to that conversation.

If other ideas occur to you please leave a comment!