My good friend Mandi Bishop offered this sage suggestion and advice:
Ever written an unsolicited recommendation, just because someone made a noteworthy professional impact on you and you happened to think of them as you were on LinkedIn? If you haven’t, try it. It feels good.
I’ve done this a few times and Mandi is 100% correct. It makes you feel great and it makes the other person that received the recommendation feel great as well. That’s a powerful thing to do and what will astonish you more is the response you’re likely going to get in return. That’s not why you do the unsolicited recommendation, but it is a nice byproduct of the idea.
I’d suggest you take Mandi’s idea one step further. A kind recommendation on LinkedIn is great, but this concept can apply to any form of gratitude towards someone. A thoughtful email or a kind tweet can have a similar impact on yourself and the people whom you show sincere gratitude and appreciation.
These messages don’t have to be long, but they do have to be heartfelt and sincere. Yes, that will take a little more emotional energy on your part, but the payoff will be worth it.
Now, enough reading. Go and show some gratitude to someone who’s made a difference in your life either personally or professionally or both. A tweet, a text, an email, a DM, a Facebook Message, a call, etc can go a long way to brightening someone else’s day…and your own.