A Powerful Practice Often Overlooked

Although this is a little different from the usual posts I write, today I want to focus a little on encouragement, work and success.

Necessary planning tools such as Return On Investment (ROI) analyze success of a business. Without them, decisions would be made based off emotions or guesses, which often lead to poor outcomes. I am no business strategist, but I have learned a thing or two working in a variety of roles, in fields such as journalism, mental health, neuroscience and now owning a small art business. One thing I have noticed is that we do not talk enough about how much encouragement positively affects both a company's bottom line and its employees. Before you stop reading because I’m talking business, hear me out.

Yes, I appreciate numbers, but it’s not my primary focus. But I do appreciate them. Partially because of my engineer/physicist father and also because I used them a lot while toward my masters degree in science. We analyzed mounds of data and studied its affects people, health outcomes and healthcare systems. Although I like to analyze numbers and outcomes, the artist in me enjoys finding creative ways to see how those things are affected by intangible, but measurable qualities, such as empathy, encouragement, joy and hope. 

Today let's focus on encouragement. I invite you to join me for a quick exploration of why it matters so much in all areas of life, from personal to professional.

First, let's start with how the most sought after and most printed text in the world, the Bible, tells us we are supposed to encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11-15). Even if you are not a Christian, you probably look at the best-sellers list occasionally. It helps you understand trends and why people buy a certain book. There is some value people are gaining from those books whether it is entertainment, knowledge, guidance, or practical how-to-information. If you are a Christian, then I don't need to explain myself further (I hope).

Second, we use encouragement in our personal lives as a way to come alongside one another and support show support (Beets, Cardinal, & Alderman, 2010). As we learn this as children and continue to practice is it throughout adulthood, it helps us cultivate successful relationships.

So if common wisdom and relational success point toward the importance of encouragement, then why don't we realize it's affects on our daily life, our relationships, businesses, colleagues or even things like ROI?

In a 2014 study, it was found that teams that encouraged one another were more successful and cooperative (Hu and Liden, 2014). In these and other studies show how helpful encouragement is, let's ask ourselves this question: do we apply it?

To reference the quote at the top of the page, encouragement after a failure, a mistake or just a "blah" day makes a big difference to the person receiving it. Think about how it has played out in your own life. Likely, a lot of people praised you when you succeeded at work. But I think fewer of us in the workplace experienced true encouragement when we needed it. So let's ask another question: who's words do we remember more? I'll let you think about it. I know which moments I remember more. I don't think I'm very different from most people in that way. 

Ok, I said this was a quick exploration, so I'm almost off my soap box for the day. I hope this motivated you to think about creative ways to encourage the people in your life, from your kids to your coworkers. Oh, one last thing: encouragement is sincere support. Fake encouragement can be smelled from across the room, so don't be "that" guy or girl, OK? None of the above can apply if it's not real.

So get at your Tuesday, friend! If this post ended up encouraging you, I’d love to hear about it! Have a great day!