ROI of Appreciating Great Work: Kevin Ames, Founder, Ames Leadership Institute

You don’t get great work by rewarding it—you get it by valuing people first:

“If you need a reminder to recognize somebody, you’re not a good leader.”

“There is no such thing as a recognition program.”

“Until someone values me, I’m just going to get a paycheck.”

Why appreciation turns effort into meaning for the giver of gratitude…

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In this conversation, Kevin Ames dismantles one of leadership’s most expensive myths: that not having recognition or turning it into a system creates engagement. Drawing from decades of leadership research and real-world experience, Ames explains why appreciation isn’t a tool, a program, or a reminder—it’s a behavior that shapes leadership performance, leader loyalty, and meaning for anyone at work.

This episode explores why people don’t do great work because they’re incentivized, but because they feel genuinely valued—and how leaders quietly lose influence when appreciation is outsourced alone, automated, or delayed.

Inside This Episode

• Why recognition programs fail to produce great work

• The difference between appreciation and incentives

• How influence—not authority—is a leader’s real power

• Why money is rarely the primary driver of performance

• How great work becomes a source of meaning, not burnout

Go Deeper — Premium Action Plan

This episode sets up a second part of the episode that includes a Premium Action Plan for members of Bold Encounters Club. Kevin Ames and Mark walk through micro steps for how to give your first exceptional appreciation moment as a leadership act—turning everyday moments into catalysts for trust, work energy, and consistently great work.

Moments to Revisit

• Why reminders to recognize people signal leadership failure

• The story that proves appreciation changes behavior instantly

• How values of behavior outperform values of intention

• Why people remember how work made them feel—years later

Final Thought

Great work doesn’t come from systems or slogans. It comes from leaders who notice, value, and respond to real effort in real time. When appreciation becomes behavior instead of policy, people don’t just perform better—you and they live better through their work.