I recently wrote about the results of a leadership-style assessment I took on BuildingChurchLeaders.com, and my ability to finally accept the idea that I can be effective and influential as a leader whose primary gifting lies in the areas of encouragement and motivation. I do not have to be primarily gifted in the areas popularized by leadership circles and books, such as vision-casting, to succeed in the ways God has called me, and this realization was quite liberating for me.
Now that a few weeks have passed, I’ve had a chance to think a bit more about what this gifting means. A sobering thought has emerged.
All leaders, whether they realize it or not, are motivating or demotivating those around them. It simply depends on the ways we as leaders conduct ourselves. Either we use encouragement in authentic and effective ways to spur motivation, or we risk catalyzing the opposite effect. There is no in-between.
So with that said, here are six ways I believe you can effectively energize people, giving them the encouragement they need to kick up their efforts another notch. I pray these ideas help you do just that, whether encouragement is a primary gift of yours or not.
First, a disclaimer: I believe these are six ways to authentically encourage people around you, but I am not an expert on the subject. I have much to learn, and I’m sure those around me can quickly point out my shortcomings on this topic. Please join in the conversation and add your own ideas:
1. Active listening. I see this tip in a lot of places, but my ability to find leaders who do it well isn’t as common. This requires the regular (perhaps daily) discipline of going to those who work for you and checking in with them. How are they doing? What are they working on? What obstacles have emerged and may require some expertise – or assistance – from you? Beyond that regular habit, do you really hear what people say and give your mind time to establish patterns? Does Steve, a volunteer leader, regularly struggle to find volunteers for the church nursery on Sundays? If so, is it a sign he’s becoming discouraged and ready to bail? Is it a sign he could really benefit from some training and discussion that helps him learn, grow, and invest more time in the future? Establishing such a pattern enables you to stay ahead of the situation before it turns on you. More importantly, it leaves Steve feeling noticed, valued, and encouraged to stick with his roles and responsibilities.
2. Specific praise. In my past life as a newspaper reporter, nothing turned my stomach more than a superior’s willingness to say “good job,” without offering specific ways my work was praiseworthy in the first place. The words rang hollow, leaving me to wonder whether the extra hour I spent re-working my story the night before really mattered. Praise early, often, and with specific references. This requires you to be familiar with what is happening in the work of those around you, making active listening all the more valuable. On a larger scale, it forces you to constantly identify the very remarkable efforts of others needed to pull off seemingly ordinary things, like a Sunday service bulletin or a Wednesday night class. The more you recognize this, the higher the premium (and appreciation) you’ll place on those who have stepped up to help you. And the more these key individuals feel acknowledged, the more encouraged they are to continue.
3. Personal thank-yous. For some leaders, thanking people is a recurring oversight. For others, the ubiquitous nature of e-mail has robbed them of their ability to meaningfully thank others for their hard work. That’s why I am a staunch believer in the power of the hand-written thank-you. It forces the writer to remember the work that was done, enabling the writer to be specific, articulate, even colorful. It also communicates value to the recipient – someone genuinely took time to sit down and express these thoughts. In my own experience, such a note often has meant more than any token gift. If time just doesn’t permit, then tell the person face-to-face, or live on the phone (with voice mail as a last resort).
4. Talk about the big picture. How often have you handed a task to a worker, realizing it is mundane, monotonous, perhaps even beneath that worker’s skills and education? And yet it’s a task that needs to be done, and they’re the one you’ve tapped to do it. Rather than hand it off, sit down with them, explain the task, and then take the extra 30 seconds to say why this seemingly insignificant work plays a very real and important role in the success of the ministry’s bigger vision. Let them see how their efforts will make a difference in the organization’s ability to continue without interruption, or its ability to accomplish a goal. On BuildingChurchLeaders.com, one of these tasks is keywording every article, download, audio clip, and video, based on topic, Bible reference, author, and other criteria. It can become mind-numbingly boring, and yet without it, readers like you wouldn’t be able to search the site for materials. Any time I hand off one of these projects (if I’m not doing it myself), I sit down with the individual and explain just how critical it is for our readers to find our resources, and why keywording enables them to do it.
5. Flexibility. I recently had a conversation with a woman who had her purse stolen one Saturday during a shopping excursion. While she did everything she could that weekend to cancel credit cards and other accounts containing private information, some items had to wait until Monday morning, when banks and other institutions opened. The thing is, her employer wouldn’t give her time that morning to make the necessary calls. She had to wait until lunch because her department’s policy didn’t allow personal calls like those during working hours. To me, it was an opportunity wasted by her superiors. Can you imagine her appreciation and loyalty to her department if she had been given some flexibility to take care of a big problem in her personal life, not to mention the motivation to complete her work to the very best of her abilities? Sometimes, the best encouragement we can give means recognizing the people around us are human beings beset with the same headaches and hiccups we deal with. Our flexibility in those situations extends a measure of grace that, in my experience anyway, often is returned to me later with a greater magnitude than I gave.
6. Dig in. This requires the least explanation of all. What is more discouraging than watching a leader hand off the “lesser” work without chipping in? Dig in to the same work that you ask others around you to do. And when your workload doesn’t permit, be sure those around you understand why you can’t at that particular moment – and that you’re available to intervene should a problem develop.
When it comes to ministry leadership, encouragement can make or break you. Do it authentically, and you’ll get an authentic response in return. Do the bare minimum and, well, you, your team, and your ministry likely will get the bare minimum in return.
