By Michael Lisagor

It is illuminating that three of the four silent prayers Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Nichiren Buddhists offer when we chant every morning and evening contain the word appreciation or gratitude.

For the last 10 years, I’ve coached business owners, public sector executives, managers, and front-line supervisors on how to become more enlightened and supportive of their staff. Although I will continue to cajole and badger my clients about what they could do better, my wife suggested that I recognize the many things they do well.So, before I write about the importance of appreciation, I will express my own profound respect for all of you who:

Come to work wearing a smile even when you don’t feel like it;

Do more with less and produce inspiring results;

Work hard to achieve a mission even when no when else is looking;

Don’t neglect supporting your sometimes less-than-capable supervisors;

Encourage and assist your sometimes-less-than-capable co-workers and staff;

Try to listen and understand before judging.

Doing all this is a tall order. So too is a fully functioning organization. In my experience, businesses usually reflect the strengths and weaknesses of their leaders. Any organization or individual can be criticized. That’s the easy part. Showing appreciation is a whole other story.

When a manager has a conflict with a peer or employee, often all it takes to open the door to a more constructive relationship is for either one of them to express appreciation for something about the other person.

Too many of us treat compliments like precious gems rarely to be bestowed. This is unfortunate because feeling unappreciated usually makes people withdraw rather than improve their job performance.

Appreciated people are also more likely to reflect on their behavior and make necessary changes. The best appreciation comes from the heart without qualification. This is consistent with the Buddhist belief that every single human being has a potential enlightened condition and deserves respect even though we might still protect ourselves from that person’s negative behavior.

On the other side of the equation, many people find it difficult to accept compliments. They respond to praise with, “Oh, I didn’t do that much” or, “It wasn’t that good.” Instead, we should try to own our accomplishments. We deserve to be appreciated and, by accepting appreciation we can make the person expressing it feel good, too.

Our SGI president, Daisaku Ikeda, described the process of inner spiritual transformation as a “human revolution” that not only leads to individual empowerment and constructive action but as the surest way to direct humankind’s energies toward creating a more peaceful and prosperous world. In other words, a greater appreciation for the Earth and all its inhabitants.

Showing appreciation is important in all areas of our lives. Too many people in our society abandon their spiritual determination on Monday morning as they enter the workplace. Of course, as my wife likes to remind me, what works at work also works at home. She has been a truly remarkable partner for 40 years. (I hope she reads that.) Let’s try expressing appreciation. It can and should become habit-forming.

Michael Lisagor is a chapter leader in the SGI-USA and the author of “Romancing the Buddha” and “The Enlightened Manager.”