Praise Works Wonders

by Everett A. Chasen, Associate

Last week, Seth wrote about the difficult decision President Obama was required to make before he sent troops in to capture or kill Obama bin Laden.  In the aftermath of the successful mission, I was personally struck by one aspect of the follow-up activities: the President’s trip to Fort Campbell, Kentucky to personally thank those who took part in the attack, and to collectively award them a Presidential Unit Citation.

There is no question that those who took part in the raid are heroes—and that, if their names were known, none of them would ever have to purchase a drink in any bar in America for the rest of their lives.  Fear of retaliation against them or their families however, makes public acknowledgment of their names and activities impossible—so the President met with them privately, without any photographs or media, to express his appreciation for their service to our nation.

In doing so, the President demonstrated one of the most important aspects of successful leadership: the ability to provide positive reinforcement to those whom you are asked to lead.  Few if any behaviors motivate employees to maintain high performance levels more than positive reinforcement and praise.  Positive reinforcement should be given often: when individuals, such as those involved in this mission, have taken actions that are above and beyond the call of duty; when employees have significantly improved their levels of performance; and when people have met your expectations over a long period of time.

Recognition is more powerful when it is provided—as the President did—as soon as possible after the event takes place; It’s much more powerful that way.  It should be focused on specific individuals or teams (“Good job, everybody” is not much of a motivator), and should be as specific, descriptive, and precise as possible.  If people know why they’re being praised, they’re much more likely to do what they did again.

One management analyst believes that good employees should be praised “twenty to thirty times” for every time they are corrected.  He also says that the fear some managers have that too much praise will give employees swelled heads is completely unwarranted.  Instead, continual praise builds employee loyalty and a reluctance to let their boss and their organization down.

In our strategic alignment work, Sinclair helps organizations to align their goals with the goals of its employees.  We make the goals of the organization; its departments; and its employees as clear as possible so that employees know what the organization is asking of them.  Then we help employers reinforce the kind of performance that helps those goals to be realized, and enable employees to understand how their performance helps the organization succeed.   It’s a formula that works.  Call us if you’d like to learn more!