4. Praise early, often and late.
Harvard Business Management offers a Tip of the Day. And a recent one listed 3 Tips for Giving Praise that Motivates. The three tips were excellent:
1. Be Specific.
2. Praise with Actions, Not Just Words. Basically, talk's cheap. Praise in a way, with rewards, that are meaningful to the recipient. This doesn't mean you have to throw money around. In fact, money may be near the last tangible, extrinsic, reward you offer. Recognition, recognition, recognition from you, from their peers, always generates the highest ROI.
3. Don't Praise as Preface to a Critique. It is hard to imagine a more effective way to undermine your credibility and effectiveness as a person, much less leader, than to praise as a preface to a critique.
To these I'd add that 4th:
4. Praise early, often and late. A good leader creates an environment where there is a steady supply of successes and accomplishments, things to celebrate with praise and recognition. One way to sustain that success is to offer the most powerful human elixir: praise and recognition. A scarcity of reasons to praise reflects on either our ability to conceive and execute a strategy or our ability to appreciate those whose skills make that possible.
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