Everybody wants to be a leader – and in times of social media you can be a leader no matter what.
Who wouldn’t want to consider himself a leader? Given the choice between being a leader and a follower, we certainly would choose to be a leader.
The problem is only that we too seldom don’t behave as real leader. A leader who leads ethically and trustworthy.
As a leader, we have the opportunity to inspire leadership of all kinds in our team. And if everybody wants to feel like a leader, we surely can find a way to make that happen and support people here. Making people feel good is certainly possible.
People love praise. And you can never praise people too much. Praise is something powerful, contagious and totally inspirational. People who receive praise feel honored and special.
Criticism has exact the opposite effect. People feel humiliated and hurt. And criticizing people in public is especially bad, as it makes people feel embarrassed.
Criticism in general is not always bad. The reality is that sometimes people need constructive criticism, to improve their behavior and attitude. However, how we deliver feedback can decide how people react and feel afterwards. When bad feelings arise afterwards, then we have done ourselves a disservice.
WHAT YOU SHOULD LEARN
Never give out criticism in front of other people. It leads to shame for the person receiving it.
When you do have to deliver criticism, do it privately. Use the “sandwich technique”: praise, criticism, and then more deep praise.
Praise, praise, praise, and praise some more.
–Dave Kerpen
