# 1 NY Times author teaches D-M Airmen

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Josh Slavin
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Today Dr. Gary Chapman, author of "The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace," spoke to a group of nearly 200 Airmen about different ways to express appreciation to coworkers.

Chapman's seminar discussed the importance of properly showing appreciation and the different methods Airman can use to do so.

He believes that everyone feel the need to be loved and appreciated for the work that they do. Consequently, when people do not receive the appreciation they were hoping for they then become unhappy and unproductive, which then creates a negative work environment
.
"These five languages work in all work places and organizations, including the military," said Chapman.

The key is discovering which language you and your coworkers are receptive to accepting. People all receive appreciation differently according to Chapman. It's up to supervisors and coworkers to individualize the way they show appreciation because what might be extremely meaningful to one person might not be to another.

"I think the bottom line is that it is just simply not enough to appreciate the things that people do for us," Chapman said. "We really need to learn how to express it."