Have you ever had a vulture leader? Someone who circles in the sky and only comes around to say or do something when things go wrong. Too many leaders default to this "vulture leadership" style, leaving teams feeling demotivated, disengaged, and asking themselves, "Do I do anything right?"
To be fair, this behavior is default human nature. No excuses here, but there are rooms full of research that discuss how the brain is wired to tune out what is right and focus on what is wrong in our surroundings. This behavior helps our brains process the copious amounts of information it gets in and helps us survive.
It wasn't until I read the book Whale Done by Ken Blanchard that my eyes opened to this common problem. Simply put, Ken lands the idea that it is more powerful to highlight when things are going right than when things are going wrong. I thought back to previous leaders I worked with and how often they provided negative feedback vs. positive. The scale was tipped in the wrong direction, and I committed to being known for praising when things go well.
This idea seems simple, but saying " well done" isn't enough. Praise requires the same level of detail we often provide for feedback, and I have a simple equation that I've found works well.
1) What specifically was done: Start with being specific about what the team member did. Specificity is the keyword here, and you need to do better than "Well done on that." Instead, focus on what someone did and summarize it in a sentence. "Your presentation on our 2024 market outlook," or "Your analysis of our customer data in this month's dashboard."
2) Powerful adjective: Words like good, great, and nicely done are often overused and lack impact. Instead, tie a powerful adjective to what was done specifically. Examples include fantastic, exceptional, remarkable, brilliant, outstanding, incredible, and excellent. Use a thesaurus and get creative.
After you combine these two parts, your first sentence should be something like, "Your analysis of our customer data in this month's dashboard was fantastic." You can follow this up with another sentence that adds more specificity to what the team member did, like, "I particularly thought your analysis of market size was insightful."
3) The impact or result for the team: Now that you have your first sentence or two, add another sentence that shares the impact on the organization or group. This impact statement helps tie the action to a larger organizational goal or value. For example, "Your analysis will help us set realistic growth goals and benchmark our performance to our competition."
4) How the action made you feel: The last part is to make the praise human and share how the activity made you feel. We all seek validation, and sharing how you feel will help teams know where they stand and that you care. For example, "This made me feel confident that you understand our market and are helping us surface insights from the data."
That's it, full stop. In fact, talking too much more can drown the message and lose its impact. All together, powerful praise should be three to four sentences that look something like the following:
"Jack, your new video on our customer success stories was fantastic. I specifically liked how it conveyed our customer's delight and the value our software added to their business. These videos will help us show potential customers that our software can help their businesses grow while reducing overhead expenses. The video made me feel inspired by the work we do and made me smile. Thank you for your hard work."
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