Encourage the Heart
The climb to the top is arduous and steep. People become exhausted, frustrated, and disenchanted, and are often tempted to give up. Genuine acts of caring draw people forward. “Recognition is the most powerful currency you have, and it costs you nothing,” says Jessica Herrin, CEO and founder of Stella & Dot, who oversees ten thousand mostly part-time stylists, who sell the jewelry line through private parties. She personally contacts at least ten stylists each day and makes it part of her regular to-do list to find and celebrate suc- cesses.5 Right after Mark Hassin’s company won the MSN-Microsoft Israel’s Interactive Agencies Creative Competition, he sent a picture of the award to everyone on his team along with a note that said, “This is YOUR prize. Go tell your family, your friends––that YOU did this.”
Leaders like Jessica and Mark recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. Such recognition can be one- to-one or with many people. It can come from dramatic gestures or simple actions. Jennifer Dirking, associate director at Foothill– De Anza Community Colleges Foundation, is always on the lookout for ways to create a climate in which, she says, “people feel cared about and genuinely appreciated.” When her team gets together to debrief an event, they start by acknowledging the aspects that were
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deserved credit. Then, Jennifer explains, “as we evaluate those aspects that we want to improve, it is within this context of overall success. This approach improves morale and contributes to a more coopera- tive work environment.”
It’s part of your job as a leader to show appreciation for people’s contributions and to create a culture of celebrating the values and victories by creating a spirit of community. Recognition and celebra- tion aren’t necessarily about fun and games, though there is a lot of fun and there are a lot of games when people encourage the hearts of their constituents. Neither are they about pretentious ceremonies designed to create some phony sense of camaraderie. Encouragement is, curiously, serious business because it’s how you visibly and behav- iorally link rewards with performance. Make sure that people see the benefit of behavior that’s aligned with cherished values. Celebrations and rituals, when they are authentic and from the heart, build a strong sense of collective identity and community spirit that can carry a group through extraordinarily tough times.
The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership are the core leadership competencies that emerged from our analysis of thousands of Personal-Best Leadership Experience cases. When leaders are doing their best, they Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart.
These are the practices that people use when they are at their personal best as leaders. But what’s the evidence that they really matter? Do these practices truly make a difference in the engagement and performance of people and organizations? Over the years, we’ve been challenged to answer these questions and to test the assertion that The Five Practices explain how leaders get extraordinary things
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done in organizations. The research and empirical evidence make the case that they do.
