Encouraging Words

Good morning,

Happy Friday! Brrrrrrrr. But hang in there - only 36 days ‘til Spring. Meanwhile, let’s touch on a topic that seems almost as obvious as snow is cold.

People respond better to encouragement than criticism.

That's just the way it is. Nevertheless, this simple but important principal is often overlooked at work and – yes – at home, too.

You’ve probably run into people who seem to think, consciously or unconsciously, that complimenting a person deters them from doing better. However quite the opposite is true: positive feedback encourages a person to earn more positive feedback. I’ve been fortunate to work with encouraging people who know that finding fault is easy, but providing encouragement, although more challenging, is more rewarding.

Inevitably, all of us encounter the need to elicit more desirable results from people around us – our employees, coworkers, bosses or family members. Instead of going straight for corrective criticism, a more effective approach is to say something nice first. It’s respectful; and there's always something to compliment – if we don't see it then we’re simply not looking closely enough.

Today’s sunny note invites you to join me in a little sunny challenge, to compliment someone, anyone, who you wouldn’t otherwise have complimented. Let’s lead by example and hope it’s contagious.

Regardless of how often you already do this, the challenge is to compliment at least one more person than usual today. Who knows – it might be the only kind word they’ll hear all day.

And have a sunny day!

Clarity

P.S. “Correction does much, but encouragement does more.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

P.P.S. Thank you for visiting www.MySunnyNotes.com. If you’re new to Sunny Notes and would like to receive my sunny email each Friday, visit www.JoinSunnyNotes.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
www.MetroMichigan.com
313-670-7505