Showing Appreciation with the Kudos Cards for the Manifesto for Human Leadership

4 min readApr 25, 2019

There’s a lot of whining and complaining. After all, it is very easy to be outraged about the mistakes made by others and especially by “those up there”. However, this way we focus our thoughts on deficits and problems and tend to ignore the fact that the half-empty glass is also half full. This negativity bias, i.e., the tendency to perceive the negative more strongly than the positive, has been well researched scientifically and seems to be deeply rooted in our human nature. Therefore, it takes mindfulness and practice to overcome it. A nice start is to show appreciation in the form of the new Kudos Cards for the Manifesto for Human Leadership.

Kudos comes from the Greek κῦδος (kydos) which means recognition, fame, honour. It is widely used in the internet (yes, there are not only shitstorms!) comparable to the French “Chapeau!” or the German equivalent “Hut ab!”. (which, of course, both come from completely different times and therefore seem a bit outdated).

Analog media are regaining new significance because of the ubiquitous digitalization. A small card with a handwritten thank you on beautiful paper stands out against the quickly clicked like. And consciously writing and handing over such a card works wonders against the negativity bias described at the beginning. In this way, gratitude and appreciation leads to satisfaction on all sides.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.
Buddha

Besides all the undisputed shortcomings, there are nevertheless many good examples of new leadership every day in the sense of the Manifesto for Human Leadership. We should appreciate and strengthen these little flowers adequately, for the glass is also half full. So the next time you notice exemplary leadership behavior — and I explicitly do not want to limited this to managers — show it with one of the Kudos cards.

The Kudos Cards for the Manifesto

The Kudos Cards are available in the size 65mm x 65mm optimized for ordering as square business cards from MOO. I recommend the cotton version, which is made of recycled T-shirt fabric, feels very classy and is easy to write on.

I am also grateful for the incredibly positive reception to the Manifesto and the Book on the Manifesto (available in German at Amazon and in English on Leanpub). And to show that gratitude I provide the printable templates for the cards for free here (but I’m always happy if you buy me a coffee):

Download as printable PDF: German / English.

Since MOO only delivers cards starting at a minimum of 50, I am happy to offer single sets (consisting of the following six cards) at a price of 6€ per set (incl. shipping). Just send me a short e-mail with the desired number of sets and the desired language version.