A senior leader in the convention services industry effortless and constantly delivered “great job” on top of “thank you” in addition to “you got this” on a daily, all the time basis.
Also on the top of her list were creating opportunities for her people to connect socially and receive the recognition they had been lacking during her tenure. She created rituals for social interaction and celebrations.
She delivered it sincerely, timely and with an unwavering upbeat demeanor that made her the organization’s cheerleader. The consummate cheerleader.
I always wanted to use one of those tick counters and follow her around for a day or so and see what the daily tally was but never did. Suffice to say it happened a lot and every day.
And how did her people respond?
With unprecedented production, commitment to quality, organizational loyalty, embracing of mission and a quantum leap in customer service levels. End game. It played out over seven years. Some of her peers ridiculed her for the constant praise, encouragement and appreciation. Some of her own team members suspected her motives were not good. But at the end of the day, the results spoke for themselves.
This is one example that we have had the privilege to work with in the past 20 years, There are hundreds more. Maybe thousands more. When leaders put time and effort into positive feedback, thanks and encouragement, the results grow dramatically and pretty quickly. Toxicity is reduced. Turnover goes down. Benefit after benefit.
Great leaders understand this and have for quite some time. As their peer leaders are working with metrics and working through a politicized corporate culture, the great leaders are investing time and energy in building their team morale and replicating valued behaviors and performance.
Any leader can achieve what she did by adopting a few simple strategies.
- Say thank you when someone does something for you or the organization.
- Tell people “good job” when they meet or exceed expectations.
- Encourage people to grow, stretch, make decisions and take risks.
- Do these consistently and beyond the limits of your current comfort level.