A small tweak to become a better leader

Today’s tip comes from The New Self-Help, Forge’s 21 essential self-improvement books for the 21st century.

✅ Today’s tip: Encouragement is more effective than praise.

Across all parts of life, in situations as disparate as raising a kid and training an employee, “people tend to view the act of leadership as a choice between two approaches: to lead by rebuke, or to lead by praise,” write Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga in their book The Courage to be Disliked.

Neither approach, the authors argue, is the right one. Leading with fear and discipline doesn’t make for a healthy relationship, but neither does leading with praise, which creates an inherently imbalanced dynamic by putting the praiser on a pedestal. When accomplishing something, people want to feel like partners, not subordinates.

So instead, they write, lead with encouragement — a sign of mutual respect — and by helping people reach their goals. Kind words have more value when they’re tied to action.

📚 More from Forge on leadership styles:

Why Introverts Make Better Leaders
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Whatever Happened to Private Praise?
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The Emotional Labor of Being the Boss
Read more >>

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