Catch people doing the right thing
In the workplace, do you daily look for those doing the right thing or are you focused on dealing with problems?
I don’t believe people come into work each day to figure out how they can screw up. No, they come to do great work and advance the company’s purpose forward. Then why do leaders spend more time on negatives? A leader’s focus should be on all the positive things that are going on in the work environment.
I find that people who have been consistently encouraged:
- Make better teammates
- Are more productive
- Are more creative and willing to take risks to drive improvement
- Have less fear of failure
- Feel empowered
- Are open to being coached when problems arise
When servant leaders focus on “catching people doing the right thing,” they:
- Recognize both good performance and good behaviors
- Recognize the small wins as well as the big wins
- Are specific in their recognition (no generalities)
- Recognize the person both privately and publicly when appropriate
- Put practices in place to make recognition a daily habit
- Write hand-written notes of thanks and encouragement
- Expect all people to embrace encouragement as part of the culture
I start every meeting with a celebration of our team’s success stories since we last met. This, along with daily performance metrics, provided plenty of material for me to recognize people. On my daily walks through the office, I would also look for behavioral excellence, such as employees keeping a safe, clean and orderly workspace, or pitching in to help others in need. I made sure to compliment them on being a great teammate.
One of my favorite examples of a leader making encouragement a daily habit was someone who put six fishing jigs (sans hooks) in his left pocket every morning. Each time he caught someone doing the right thing, he would compliment him or her and then move a jig to his right pocket. His goal was to finish each day with all the jigs in his right pocket.
These encouragement practices will drive a culture of:
- No fear
- Energized employees
- High performance
- Personal growth
I encourage you to take an inventory of how much time are you spending on dwelling on the negative and dealing with problems versus catching people doing the right thing. Challenge yourself to consistently improve this ratio. It will positively enhance your culture.
Photo source: istock
 | Mark Deterding is the founder and principal of Triune Leadership Services, LLC. In 2011 he formed Triune Leadership Services to follow his passion of working with leaders to help them develop core servant leadership capabilities that allow them to lead at a higher level and enable them to achieve their God-given potential. He is married to his wife Kim, and they have two sons, two lovely daughter-in-laws, and three wonderful grandchildren. This article was first published on triuneleadershipservices.com. Used with permission. Learn More » |
More on Meetings and Team Building
- How bad virtual habits can become powerful leadership tools (by Scott Cochrane)
- Leadership alignment: realign your team for success with simple adjustments (by Christian Muntean)
- How to unleash the power of the spinal tap leadership principle (by Scott Cochrane)
- How to build values by ringing the bell for what matters (by Scott Cochrane)
