Dr. Lewis Losoncy in his book "The Motivating Team Leader" suggests that the central reason why people do not perform to their full potential, is not because they are lazy, unmotivated, distracted, or anything of the sort. He says that it is a lack of encouragement that causes leaders not reach their full potential. I don't actually agree with his thesis, but I do really appreciate the central importance encouragement has in his leadership thought.
When we encourage, we place courage in others! We help them to see the things they can do, that they may not yet see and we affirm the great things they have already done. I think encouragement is such a huge, and often under appreciated, aspect of leadership that has the unmistakable ability to build ones cred with anyone who would follow.
Let's face it, we all love to be encouraged! Not in a false or ungenuine manner, but we love to know that we have done smething great, affected someone's life significantly, contributed something important, etc. So as leadership we need to offer this form of affirmation to those who follow us, when we do this they will enjoy following us. Hence we place more leadership credit in the bank!
THE CALL TO ACTION: Jot down the names of five people who you can encourage right now. Then go and write them a letter, send them an email or text, make a phone call, take them out for coffee and pour into their lives! you'll see the difference it makes immediately!
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