How I Give Encouragement

One of the most important things a leader does is give encouragement. Encouragement is to leadership, what Oxygen is to the soul. The people we lead cannot survive without it. Something within every human being makes us desperate for encouragement. Things die when there is no encouragement. When a married couple stops encouraging one another, their relationship begins to die. When teammates stop encouraging each other, the team begins to die. When leaders in organizations stop encouraging the people they lead, the organization begins to die.

So this week we’re going to zero in on how I give encouragement… (I hope it encourages you! Get it?!?)
1. Give Encouragement Sincerely.

Nobody likes a fake. And the young generation emerging around us can see an imposter coming a mile away. When it comes to encouragement, we can’t fake it.
People need our Sincere Encouragement.

When I was young in the faith, during my teenage years, I had a leader in my life who was the worst at this. Whenever we would be in a public setting somewhere, this person would begin throwing out untrue compliments to me. He would be praising things I HADN’T done! It was embarrassing because I couldn’t correct them and I couldn’t call this person on them.

This shaped my leadership in a profound way as a teenager because I learned I never wanted to do that to anyone else! I didn’t like the way it made me feel, & I didn’t want anyone else to have to feel that way either. I could see that what they really wanted was for someone to compliment them.

? How are you at encouraging? ? On a scale of 1 to 10, How would the people around you rate you in the realm of encouragement? ? Do you give encouragement sincerely?

Just a bloggish thought,

matt