How do I praise thee?
 Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog |
|
|
 |
|
Contact Wally about coaching, consulting, or speaking to your group. |
How do I praise thee? Let me count the ways.
I praise thee soon. Prompt praise is good. Stale praise is not so good.
I praise thee sincerely. Mean what you say, otherwise it's manipulation and very transparent.
I praise thee often. I've found that at least three positive messages a day is a good place to start even though I have no science to support that number. I look for meaningful occasions to praise thee.
I praise thee for good things you do. Effort and hard work are powerful things to praise.
I praise thee for things that you achieve. I praise performance and improvement.
I praise thee according to thy preferences. Not everyone likes to be praised in public, but everyone likes to be praised.
Equally important are the ways I do not praise thee.
I do not praise thee for capacity. You do not merit praise for being smart or talented or any other gift you have received without merit or effort on your part.
I do not praise thee for everything good that you do. I know that praise is most effective when delivered inconsistently.
Boss's Bottom Line
Praise is your power tool for helping people maintain effort, energy, and growth. It's your most effective supporter of positive change. Most of us do not praise enough.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: Supervision, Leadership
Tags: Leadership Supervision
Brilliant, Wally. Typically, I don't like to comment unless I have something substantive to add to the conversation. This time, however, you've covered the important points so well I have nothing worthwhile to add.
Thank you.
Reply to this
Thanks, Derek. That's high praise indeed from someone who knows praise and recognition as well as you do.
Reply to this
Wally,
Praise is very valuable in helping to motivate employees. I have seen bosses that never give praise, and I have seen others that give praise too much. Those that give it too often deflate the value of their praise, while those that never give praise lose the trust and admiration of their employees. The regular unpredictable praise is the most effective praise.
Reply to this
Thanks for sharing those observations, Brandon. As a practical matter, I've found that if bosses look for opportunities to praise and praise only meaningful behavior or performance, they get the balance about right. It's much harder if you start from the idea of "being balanced" and try to figure out what that is and then try to achieve it.
Reply to this
Thinking that our coworkers and the ones we supervise are just robots doing a job is very shortsighted. Pats on the back are amazing. They’re even better when coupled with actual facts about the job the person is doing.
Knowing your people is key to an effective atta-boy.
Glad I found this blog.
-Matt
Reply to this
Thanks for the kind words and the comment, Matt. You're right, knowing your team members is the key and the keys to that are showing up a lot and having lots of conversations.
Reply to this
Hi Wally,
We say, "It goes without saying." But praise should be spoken. Thanks for all you do for the community and for all you've done for me personally.
I've had folks ask, "how much praise is too much." Perhaps the "sincerity" point helps on that question. If praise degenerates into a tool used by fakers it's too much. If it's not sincerely spoken, perhaps it's been spoken too much.
However, like you, I think many leaders err on the side of too little rather than too much praise. Praise should not go without saying...
Best to you,
Dan
Reply to this
Thanks, Dan. I think you're right about sincerity. Your team members will see right through you if you turn praise into something programmatic. The bosses that seem to do best with this look for opportunities to praise, but also praise sincerely.
Reply to this
Beautiful post, Wally. Love it so much, I did a post about it over at Compensation Force titled "A Primer on Praise."
Reply to this
Thank you, Ann, that's quite a tribute.
Reply to this
I have been reading your blog for a few months now....your tips have really become invaluable to me, and I look forward to their arrival in my inbox.
Praise for a job well done or a simple Thank You for effort put forth should be a no-brainer..but so often we forget how such a little thing goes such a long way!
Reply to this
Thanks for the kind words and a nice build on the subject of the post.
Reply to this
Hi Wally,
Great points! I agree with previous posters about the issue of sincerity, and I think detail can be just as important in praise. For instance, instead of saying “You’re a great employee,” it is much more effective to use a specific example, like “The marketing report you handed in yesterday was very constructive and informative.”
Also, I loved the point you made about not all employees wanting to be praised in public. Many bosses go by the “praise in public, reprimand in private” rule, but I believe it is better to be aware of your employees’ preferred methods of praise and communication.
Praise to you for this post!
-Jess Wilson
Reply to this
Thanks for the kind words, Jess. Learning individual preferences is critical. Too many books give advice that's supposed to work with everyone, but my experience is that every person who's ever worked with me has been unique and that finding ways to adapt to that uniqueness was part of my challenge as a boss.
Reply to this
3 cheers for inconsistent praise! Nice post - thanks!
Reply to this
Thanks, Amy
Reply to this