ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER - HOW ENCOURAGEMENT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Does encouragement make a difference in our lives? Can encouragement improve your leadership skills? How does encouragement boost your employees moral and help them become more successful workers.
Encouragement is something that is often missing in this world we live in today. We tend to find each other’s faults and what we believe needs fixed in their behaviors and attitudes. Instead what we should be doing is asking ourselves how can I encourage this person today.
“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
What lack of encouragement is the root of our problems?
What if a lack of training and lack of encouragement is the reason that your employees have lost motivation? What if the lack of encouragement is the root of your failing relationship? Have you ever considered the damage that criticism and lack of encouragement can do to those you should be building up?
We all crave encouragement
Encouragement helps us thrive. We are not unlike children who crave acceptance and desire to know that what we do everyday matters. It’s part of our human nature. The serious lack of encouragement can turn something with great potential into a failure. That employee just may have been your best asset and the key to your company’s future growth potential with just a little cultivation.
What encouragement does for us?
It gives us a reason to keep going
Makes us want to improve, learn and grow
Builds great leaders
Cultivates relationships
Helps children mature and develop properly
Helps us step out with faith to try new things
Develops a strong team in the workplace who are willing and able to support each other
Reminds us that we are necessary, capable and appreciated
Why encouragement in the workplace matters
Over the years I have struggled with lack of encouragement and knowledge to get ahead in the workplace. I thrive with just a small amount of encouragement and proper training. The leaders that always stand out in my mind and have helped me move forward are those who have invested in me. Who took the time to help me understand the job, where to find the right answers and have encouraged me to keep going. I might be a grown woman now but this is still the best way to ensure that I will keep doing the best job that I possibly can. I believe the need for encouragement in education and the workplace are far greater than ever now. Our youth today wants to know that what they do matters and without encouragement and inspiration they tend to give up. I’m not saying that everyone deserves a trophy. What I am saying is that encouragement can make all the difference in someone’s life and can truly motivate your students and employees.
Effective leadership and encouragement
I am turning 39 this year and I have worked in many positions over the years within a large corporation. What has stood out to me within this company are two things, the great leaders and the lack of good leadership. Many of these great leaders never will know their impact but I will always remember them. Many of those who lack great leadership are praised for the wonderful job they do, yet many are failing under their leadership and giving up. My current job is a great example of what good leadership can do. My team lead and supervisor have done a great job with both encouragement and training. Key elements necessary in this environment we work in today. Years ago I worked in many positions that lacked this leadership. Not only did I not do well but under this type of leadership but I constantly watched people around me quit. What is the motivation to stay in a job with terrible training and no encouragement. Money is quite simply not enough to make me want to work everyday in a job that steals your joy.
A leader that encouraged and inspired
What can change when you work under a true leader? I gained knowledge, grew in my field, felt comfortable communicating with her and was able to not only do my job, but to do it with excellence. My supervisor Charlotte did something no supervisors had ever taken the time to do before. She encouraged me and invested in my life. She cared not only about the bottom line and the job to be done but also about her employees. I will always be grateful for the leadership she showed and the growth I experienced personally and professionally under Charlotte.
Her encouragement made a difference
Today I am a better person, better employee, better friend, better daughter, wife and better leader myself because of those who took the time to invest in my life. I recognize through this encouragement that I am strong, capable, smart and that I can handle almost anything. You never know what that small amount of time you spend building someone up can do for both the person you are encouraging and everyone they come in contact with in the future. Encouragement tends to have a ripple effect that ripples far beyond just the life of the one who was encouraged.
My challenge to you today
Be that encouragement in someone’s life. Personally or professionally take a step back and evaluate the situation. Where is your encouragement most needed? How can you incorporate just a little encouragement into every aspect of your life? My father-in-law is a good example of this concept. He stands out in many people’s lives as an encourager. Why? Because almost everywhere he goes he encourages. He encourages his family, friends, the waiter at the restaurant, the salesperson behind the counter, etc. Wherever he goes he looks for opportunities to spread some joy and share a bit of encouragement with those around him. Who really knows the true impact of those encouraging words in our society today. What I do know is the impact that it makes in my own life. If we have the opportunity to impact others lives daily that is a powerful concept that should be adopted. You never know the life that you might me be changing through your investment or in some cases the life you might be saving. So go encourage someone today and let them know that they matter.
