I decided to take a walk at my local park. It’s a great workout about a half mile loop around a paved path that has steep hills. I wasn’t running but I was walking at a very brisk pace. A man who I did not know was running the path in the opposite direction. On the first lap passing me he said to me “good job!” I wondered to myself “why is this man talking to me”? I don’t know him. On the second lap he gave me thumbs up signal and a smile. This was really something I thought- I guy who is a complete stranger is encouraging me on my walk! On the next lap he clapped for me. On the last lap I was so inspired I started running. I wanted to please my coach! As George Adams once said, “There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don’t care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.”
I once had a leader I reported to say to me “I am not going to compliment you for doing something we pay you to do.”
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As a leader I want you to think today about the power of encouragement. You could be by the way, the Chief Encouragement Officer. I know what you are thinking “here comes that motivational mumbo jumbo.” Well listen up Skipper; as a leader your job is to get results and the results isn’t gotten through you but through people. These people need energy, encouragement, appreciation and acknowledgement. Here is the pervasive problem; many leaders don’t take the time and energy to provide any kind of encouragement.
I once had a leader I reported to say to me “I am not going to compliment you for doing something we pay you to do.” Really? Well that sure made me feel good right? Nope in fact it made me angry and left me feeling very much unappreciated. Why would you say that to a team member?
It seems as if every party I go to and every plane I am on someone is complaining about their boss. When I examine it seems to universally always go back to the one key point – not feeling appreciated.
So here are some ideas for providing encouragement that are quick and effective. They may seem small but they can be very effective in helping get better results.
- Talk to people– I have been at company meetings several times and have watched a key executive walk into the room, walk by everyone and go across the room to speak to other executives. It was as if the “small people” weren’t worth addressing or acknowledging. Shocking and foolish. In my opinion this is a big strategic error and can and will create resentment. I once observed the founder of a Fortune 500 company work a room of 250 people and he made it a point to speak to each person and shake their hand. This created a buzz of energy in the room and everyone felt appreciated and honored. So when you are working daily or in one of your offices, do you take the time to say hello to people as you pass them? If not do you at least nod at them giving positive non verbal signals?
- Acknowledge their effort– I was once a Vice President at a Fortune 500 Company. If someone did something I felt was great, I would write them a short note on a note card (with my name at the top) thanking them for doing such a wonderful job. Often as I traveled I would go in someone’s office and see the card I wrote taped up on their wall. This taught me an important lesson- that everyone wants to be acknowledged. The biggest complaint I hear from frontline workers is simple lack of acknowledgement. Also acknowledge people when they have worked lots of hours or have put in effort “over and above” the call of duty. Secondly, and perhaps worse then not acknowledging is leaders taking (O.K. stealing) full and complete create for someone on the teams work. Be magnanimous and give create where credit is due. Publically and privately acknowledge people when they do great work. Guess what? Leaders that give credit look stronger and more confident.
- Balance criticism– It is really incredibly easy to criticize other people’s work. Mistakes are part of the human condition. As a trainer I often ask people to critique their role-play in class starting with “what went well?” In variably they always start with the negative feedback. Maybe it is human nature. I want you as a leader to find a balance between positive and negative feedback. Too many managers just pound away at a team member and eventually morale goes way down. I am not suggesting by the way, not providing critical feedback I am saying you are already throwing the salt; mix in a little sugar.
- Give surprise rewards– Give people rewards when they least expect it. Find small ways to reward them. This can be a gift card, a few extra hours off, taking someone to lunch, or even buying the team a box of donuts in the morning. Just make sure it is when they least expect it and it is positioned as a reward. Say “well I just want you to know that I know how hard you have been working on the project. Here is a small token of my appreciation. Thanks.” Done properly it will be the discussion at dinner at home that night. “Hey guess what my boss did at work today? You will never believe it.”
Be magnanimous and give create where credit is due. Publically and privately acknowledge people when they do great work.
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I have leaders ask me all the time “how do I motivate people?” One of the answers is deceptively simple and that is provide encouragement. As Sidney Madwed once said: “The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Yet, almost no one gets the encouragement they need to grow to their full potential. If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius is most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond the wildest dreams. We would have more than one Einstein, Edison, Schweitzer, Mother Theresa, Dr. Salk and other great minds in a century.”
So start today.
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Previously published in B2B Magazine and republished to Medium.
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Photo: iStock