Leadership Training: The Power of Praise

Praise is an extremely powerful motivator.

When praised, people feel good about themselves. Subsequently, they perform better. Don’t underestimate the power of praise.

Why don’t we praise others more? It’s often easier to criticize or say nothing. But constant criticism is bad. It kills ambition. It creates a negative workplace. Employees feel unappreciated and do the bare minimum. Instead of motivating people, criticism makes them feel disconnected.

FACTS ABOUT PRAISE

• People crave praise and recognition.
• People continue behaviors for which they receive positive reinforcement.
• Well-deserved praise motivates better employee performance.
• Praise creates a pleasant work environment, and encourages employees to stay with their current employer.
• Public recognition of accomplishments boosts the person’s self-esteem and allows others to appreciate the praiseworthy act as well.

FACTS ABOUT CRITICISM/LACK OF PRAISE

1. It’s easy to dish out criticism.
2. People find it difficult to give compliments, recognition, and praise.
3. Criticizing others is counterproductive – it extinguishes the fire of ambition.
4. A leader’s failure to praise causes staff to adopt a negative attitude. Then, employees do only enough to get by.
5. When praise is given too frequently, and for inconsequential accomplishments, it becomes meaningless.

FORMULA FOR PRAISE

In order to harness the power of praise, comments must be:

• SINCERE (genuine, honest, truthful, earnest, straight, heartfelt, frank, open)
  All praise should be genuine. Half-hearted or insincere praise can do more damage than none at all.
• QUALITY-FOCUSED
  People spend their whole lives working toward achieving character traits. Praising them for these traits will validate their hard work.
• SPECIFIC
  

  “You’re a good manager.”	OR	“You balanced all employees’ schedules so that all positions were covered. Your efficiency is admirable.
  “You run a good meeting.”		“You ran today’s meeting at a brisk pace and kept everyone’s interest.”

• BASED ON EVIDENCE
  Without evidence, praise is hollow. Saying to someone, “You’re a hard worker,” is kind and polite, but is weak when compared to telling that person HOW s/he is a hard worker. What does that person do that makes her/him a good friend?

Why praise? Leaders should always make the effort to strengthen the lines of communication with the people they lead. Avoid feedback that only points out where an employee stands, therefore just saying that they are doing a “good” or “bad” job. Take it further, turn it into something that makes them eager to do more for you.

The Power of Praise is not simply telling someone they did a good job but ultimately making it a reinforcement of their motivation to do even better.

What The Experts Say About Praise

This information is from a customized training for a client, based in our Leadership & Management curriculum, and is related to material in our Power of Praise training session.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS, REGISTER FOR ONE OF OUR PUBLIC CLASSES.

Other Resources:

In Praise of Praise – Forbes.com

How to Give Praise in the Workplace, According to an Austin CEO – BizJournals.com

Leadership Training Video – Performance Matters: Praise

The 9 Elements of Highly Effective Employee Praise