The Secret to Encouraging Leadership

Lucy from the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz once told poor Charlie Brown, “You, Charlie Brown, are a foul ball in the line drive of life! You’re in the shadow of your own goal posts! You are a miscue! You are three putts on the eighteenth green! You are a seven-ten split in the tenth frame! You are a dropped rod and reel in the lake of life! You are a missed free throw, a shanked nine iron, and a called third trike! Do you understand? Have I made myself clear?”

Charlie’s response, “All I know is that happiness is a warm puppy.”

Lucy, that’s hardly a way to positively impact the life of another person!

THINGS WE ALL KNOW:

• The road to building positive relationships lies in exactly the opposite direction.
• The best way to show friends, loved ones, and co-workers you have faith in them is to focus attention on their strengths.

Here’s why a lot of leaders do not show encouragement in others:

1. Insecurity in themselves.
2. They’ve had poor models of leadership.
3. They are fear-driven.
4. They have not defined true North leadership– their center, core values, and true contribution to leadership.
5. They are self-centered, self-absorbed, and self-critical.
6. They do not want others to rise above them.

Remember, when you put faith in others, you become an important relationship in their life– a gift of encouragement!

Here's to building leaders with encouragement!

–Steve

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