Praise

Let’s Catch People Doing Something Right in 2024

/ Ken Blanchard

Catching people doing things right and praising them is a timeless principle I learned and began practicing and teaching years ago. It is a powerful tool for bringing out the best in others. So instead of making a personal New Year’s resolution this year, I want to make one to share with leaders everywhere: Make 2024 “The Year of Catching People Doing Something Right.”

I don’t want this resolution to pertain solely to our direct reports, though. Let’s also catch our peers doing something right. Let’s catch our bosses doing something right. Let’s catch our partners, kids, relatives, and friends doing something right. And let’s catch ourselves doing something right!

As an example of how to praise someone for doing things right, here are the basics of the One Minute Praising from my bestselling book with Spencer Johnson, The One Minute Manager.

  1. Praise someone as soon as possible after you see praiseworthy behavior.
  2. In very specific terms, tell the person what they did right.
  3. Relate their good behavior to the broader picture by telling them how it made you feel.
  4. Now pause briefly to give the person a chance to feel good about what they did.
  5. Encourage the person to keep up the positive behavior.

This is a concept that still holds true—in fact, it’s woven into all of our company’s training programs and most of my 70 published books. When you catch somebody doing something right—or approximately right—praise them.

Catch your people

To great leaders, acknowledging people’s efforts and encouraging their progress is common sense. These leader behaviors set up a positive cycle: Their praise helps people feel good about themselves, people who feel good about themselves produce good results, and people who produce good results feel good about themselves.

Think about a time when you were proud of something you did, but nobody seemed to notice. How did it make you feel? Now think about a time when you did something well and were praised or otherwise recognized for it. How did you feel then? What was the difference between the two?

Note: a One Minute Praising is not the same as flattery. It’s a statement that builds trust and improves communication because it’s based on facts and data. The phrase “nice job” isn’t specific enough to build rapport. But if a leader says, “William, I appreciate your sending me your weekly report on time. It provided accurate information and allowed me to meet my deadlines. Keep up the great work,” it clearly states the leader’s appreciation, which will boost William’s morale and help him realize he is an important member of the team. Catching people doing things right provides satisfaction and motivates good performance.

Catch your coworkers

Encourage your teammates to catch each other doing things right and praise each other’s progress. This kind of camaraderie can go a long way toward building trust among peers, which helps everyone feel good about their job. People never tire of sincere praise. It’s good for motivation, morale, and momentum.

Catch your boss

When was the last time you praised your boss? Even if you are good at praising direct reports and coworkers, you may have to think long and hard to remember the last time you recognized the efforts of your manager.

It’s easy for people to picture their leader getting positive feedback from their own bosses. But think about how meaningful it would be for your manager to hear you say, “By the way, thanks for letting our team know about the exciting new client we just landed. It felt great to get this news directly from you rather than reading it in an all-company email.” Depending on your relationship, it could also be appropriate to give your boss a compliment on a blog post they wrote or on their caring leadership style.

Catch your family

This principle can also help relationships flourish at home. It’s important to express positive feelings we have about our family members and friends, so that those relationships stay healthy. Catch your partner, your kids, or your parents, siblings, or friends doing things right on a regular basis. Don’t wait for the perfect moment—do it as soon as you see or hear about something good that they have said or done, or even when you have a positive thought about that person.

For example, if your school-aged child makes his bed or does his homework without being asked, let him know right away that you notice and appreciate his efforts. Call and congratulate your nephew on his new job. Or send a card to thank a friend for helping you through a tough time.

Catch Yourself

Did you make a New Year’s resolution this year? If not, you have company. A new YouGov poll shows only 34% of adults in the US made a resolution for 2024. Why? Because people believe New Year’s resolutions fail more than they succeed. They grade themselves on a pass/fail basis—there’s no in-between.

But many people who think that a previous year’s resolution failed may, in fact, have made great progress in that area of their life during the year even if they didn’t technically achieve the original goal they had set.

Remember, in The One Minute Manager, Spencer Johnson and I state that a praising can be given not only when you catch someone (including yourself) doing something right, but alsowhen you catch someone doing something approximately right. So if you stick to your resolution well enough to make key improvements in that space, that’s praiseworthy in my book! Now put your right hand on your left shoulder and your left hand on your right shoulder and give yourself a hug.

Well done! Bring on the new year!

Catch everyone!

Good feelings generated from catching people doing things right can be habit-forming. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself passing along praise to your next-door neighbor, your yoga teacher, your postal carrier, or the cashier or bagger at the grocery store.

Good thoughts not communicated are meaningless. But positive praise creates a significant energy boost in both the giver and the receiver. So let’s all catch people doing something right in 2024!

Relationships Need All the HELP They Can Get

/ Ken Blanchard

It’s summer—the peak season for weddings, so I hear! I’ve had the honor and privilege of officiating several weddings over the past ten or twelve years, and every couple I’ve married has been excited and hopeful about their future. Realistically, though, we all know there is real work involved on both sides if two people are committed to making a marriage—or any loving relationship—succeed.

Of course, Margie and I aren’t marriage counselors, but I think because we’ve been happily married more than 57 years now, people occasionally ask us to address the topic. As a result, we’ve developed an acronym called HELP—Humor, Ego (getting rid of it), Listening, and Praising—a framework that spouses and other romantic partners can use to examine their relationship and keep it moving in a positive direction.

Humor. If there is anything that every relationship needs, it’s laughter. I’ve heard it said that a four-year-old child laughs between 200 and 300 times a day, while most adults laugh only 10 to 15 times a day. The older we get, the more serious we seem to get about life. So try taking your relationship seriously but yourself lightly. When I say something that gets a good laugh out of Margie, that makes my day. Start off every day with cheerful good humor.

Ego. Let me explain what I mean by ego—I’m not talking about self-esteem. We all need to feel good about who we are. Strong self-esteem is necessary to handle the bumps and bruises of everyday life. The ego problems I’m talking about are false pride and self-doubt. People with false pride put themselves in the center of their world and think more of themselves than they should. They think they can solve every problem alone. People with self-doubt are hard on themselves and think less of themselves than they should. They are consumed with their own shortcomings. When either kind of ego problem gets in the way of a marriage, it Edges Good Out. Don’t let that happen! Always keep your ego in check.

Listening. No matter how long you have been with your partner, it is never a bad idea to practice listening. Margie and I sometimes facilitate at marriage retreats where we put couples through a powerful listening exercise called Heart to Heart. Couples begin by sitting in chairs, facing each other, with their knees touching.

There are three rounds to this activity. During the first round, one partner shares by finishing this sentence: “Something I want you to know about me is…” The partner listening must verbally respond in one of three ways: “I understand,” “Thank you,” or “Tell me more.” Each partner takes turns sharing, with the other partner responding.

The second round is similar, but each partner shares: “A concern I have…” Once again, their mate responds in one of the three ways to each concern that is shared, and they take turns.

The final round is where each partner shares: “Something I admire about you is…” Again, their partner responds with either “I understand”, “thank you” or “tell me more” to each statement.

This exercise has been a big hit in our sessions. The couples find this to be a valuable method of communicating thoughts in an honest, nonthreatening way. Give it a try.

Praising. The concept of praise is so key in marriage relationships—particularly in keeping them strong and healthy over the years. We all know when you first fall in love, you start off catching each other doing things right. Over time, though, things tend to shift and you may find yourselves catching each other doing things wrong and accentuating the negative. Don’t forget that you need to stay positive and continue to praise each other’s progress—it’s a moving target!

Whether you’re newlyweds, a long-married couple, or in any other kind of loving relationship, it’s important to keep things moving in a positive direction. Remember our HELP tips: keep your sense of Humor, get your Ego out of the way, always Listen to each other, and don’t forget the power of Praising. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be like us and make it past the 57-year mark—and we’re still going strong!

Creating Leadership Ripples

/ Ken Blanchard

For good or bad, our behavior as leaders ripples throughout an organization.

Examples of bad leadership behavior negatively affecting organizations are all too easy to cite.  In the early 2000s, the criminal behavior of Enron executives caused thousands of employees to lose their jobs and led to the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, one of the country’s largest accounting firms. During the Iraq War, toxic leadership in the United States Army led to skyrocketing suicide rates among soldiers.

The fallout from poor leadership can last for years, even decades. Even if they don’t lead to bankruptcies and suicides, poor managerial behaviors reduce engagement, interfere with alignment, lower productivity, and drain human resources.  Research conducted by The Ken Blanchard Companies, together with Training Magazine, found that bad managers cost organizations money in at least seven ways.

The good news is that the ripple effects of positive leadership can also last for years. Consider this story from Dick Ruhe, one of my favorite business consultants:

One time, I had a half-day supervisor training in the spice fields of Gilroy, California. You’ve probably consumed the vegetables and fruit these folks harvest. You’d certainly recognize the company’s logo in your neighborhood supermarket.

The front-line people who worked the crop were happy to have a job. The training venue was on a large garlic farm. The meeting itself was in a relatively small building. The eighteen attendees sat on simple benches, and they stayed involved.

In the course of the day we discussed the qualities of good leaders. During the training, one name came up time and time again: Manny. The conversation basically became stories about Manny. He had quite a reputation. This guy seemed superhuman. But at some point, he had moved away from the company.

The conversation drifted to what the coworkers referred to as “flowers from Manny.” Somebody in the class asked if others still had their flowers. Many people said they did. Some of them even opened their lockers to show them to me.

The “flowers” were actually pink sticky notes on which Manny had simply drawn a smile as a reward for doing a good job. People in the group got emotional when they talked about Manny. I had trouble myself. I felt as though I knew him, even though we had never met.

Manny’s story underscores the importance of positive feedback in helping people reach their full potential. Catching people doing things right doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but the ripple effect of those praisings goes on and on.

While small gestures—like smiley faces on sticky notes—can have lasting positive impacts on organizations, bigger efforts can create legacies. Consider the work of Patrick McGovern, self-titled “Chief Encouragement Officer” of International Data Group and the founder of Computerworld magazine. A positive thinker who ended every meeting with his signature line “the best is yet to come,” McGovern grew his Boston-based technology media firm into a global powerhouse.

The day-to-day choices a leader makes become actions—and those actions create reactions. Think carefully about the ripples you’re sending throughout your organization and make sure their impact is positive.

Creating a Gung Ho Culture

/ Ken Blanchard

If you follow me on Twitter (@KenBlanchard) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/KenBlanchard/), you may have noticed that I recently posted about being in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take part in a celebration at a company called Mudd Advertising. The company, which was founded by my friend Jim Mudd Sr. was celebrating 20 years of using the principles of Gung Ho!, a book I wrote in 1998 with Sheldon Bowles from Winnipeg, Canada. I met Sheldon through the Young President’s Organization (YPO) when I spoke at one of their big conferences.

Sheldon gave me a first draft of a manuscript entitled Raving Fans and said he wanted me to coauthor it with him. I was polite and said I would read it—but as we were going back to our room, Margie and I both wondered how good it could be. After all, Sheldon was the president of a company, not a writer. Little did we know that he had been a journalist when he was young and the draft was terrific. Do I need to say more? Raving Fans was a major bestseller!

Our follow-up book, Gung Ho!, was a response to people asking “How do we turn our employees into Raving Fans of the organization they work for?” Sheldon and I were told that a lot of organizations were trying to create Raving Fan service with tired, uninspired, and even resentful employees who, in many instances, hated to go to work. Wow! What a challenge.

So Sheldon talked to Native American leaders and developed three secrets to creating a Gung Ho culture: the Secret of the Squirrel; the Way of the Beaver; and the Gift of the Goose. These secrets became the basis of Sheldon’s and my second best-selling book, which for 20 years has been required reading for each new employee at Mudd Advertising and central to the way they operate.

When you enter Mudd’s corporate headquarters, one of the first things you see is a mural depicting the Gung Ho philosophy:

SPIRIT OF THE SQUIRREL: Worthwhile Work

  • Knowing we make the world a better place.
  • Everyone works toward a shared goal.
  • Values guide all plans, decisions, and actions.

WAY OF THE BEAVER: In Control of Achieving the Goal

  • A playing field with clearly marked territory.
  • Thoughts, feelings, needs, and dreams are respected, listened to, and acted upon.
  • Able but challenged.

GIFT OF THE GOOSE: Cheering Each Other On

  • Active or passive, congratulations must be TRUE (Timely, Responsive, Unconditional, and Enthusiastic).
  • No score, no game, and cheer the progress.
  • E = MC2—Enthusiasm equals mission times cash and congratulations

At The Ken Blanchard Companies, we’ve endeavored to create a Gung Ho culture by providing worthwhile work—our mission is that someday, everywhere, everyone will be impacted by someone leading at a higher level; by empowering our people to be in charge of achieving our goals in a way that creates Raving Fan customers; and finally, throughout the process, by cheering each other on and catching each other doing things right.

If you think your company would benefit from a Gung Ho culture, it probably would!

Don’t Just Sit There, Say Something!

/ Ken Blanchard

Managers typically react to the performance of their direct reports with one of three responses: positive, negative, or no response at all. It isn’t hard to guess which one works best for increasing good performance—the positive response.

A person who does something correctly and receives a positive response will most likely continue to perform using that desired behavior in the future. By the same token, a person who receives a negative response for doing something wrong will most likely not repeat the behavior. So, in effect, even performance that gets a negative response can improve if the manager coaches the person and encourages them to improve.

The most dangerous response a leader can offer is no response at all. Think about it. If someone performs tasks and completes projects correctly and receives no response from their manager, how do you think they will perform in the future? The good performance might continue for awhile, but eventually it will decline. Why? Because no one seems to care.

What about the person who makes mistakes but is never corrected? It seems logical that if a person is left to fail again and again with no support or direction, their performance will get even worse. It is the leader’s responsibility to help everyone succeed. Ignoring bad behavior hurts not only the individual, but also their manager and the organization as a whole. It’s just bad business.

Even though leaders are busier than ever these days, most still notice when their people are doing great or when they need coaching. The big mistake happens when the manager doesn’t say it out loud. I often say “Good thoughts in your head, not delivered, mean squat!”

If you want your people to achieve and maintain high performance, let them know that you notice and care about the things they do right—and that you want to help them when they are off track. Share your thoughts. No one can read your mind.

Be consistent with your communication and you will build a consistently high performing team.