Triangle of Opportunity
What's the difference between Inspiration, Encouragement and Praise? When should you use them? And why? These are your "Triangle of Opportunity". They are most important when we, or people we influence, are trying to grow. We don't need a lot of Inspiration, Encouragement and Praise for the things we already do well or do often. We might appreciate some gratitude on occasion (thank you very much), but Inspiration, Encouragement and Praise are like 3 sides of a triangle that work together to contain or expand the growth within.
First, there's Inspiration. It leads a person to consider something new or differently, and then move to take action. We are internally inspired by lots of things – an article we read, someone's example, or identifying a problem we want to solve or a need we want to meet. Externally, someone may intentionally attempt to inspire us to take a risk or make a change. But the key to Inspiration is that it happens BEFORE we've actually done anything. It's hard to get buy-in as a leader if we don't learn the art of inspiration.
“...your own performance is either improved or diminished by the other people in your scenario.” Henry Cloud - The Power of the Other
Encouragement, as I see it, comes later. It's essential to help us forge ahead. It can be internal or external. I believe encouragement comes AFTER we've taken some action and become disappointed or exhausted by the process or the outcome. Or maybe we've become aware of unexpected factors that now increase the scope of our original task and even make us doubt the outcome.
Encouragement at the right time and from the right person can be life changing. And in the day-to-day, encouragement can be summed up as "belief". When we share our belief in someone's ability to do something, it helps them regain their inspiration (see above) and/or reduces fear. That's pretty much what we need to move to create change - more inspiration or less fear. Encouragement can produce both.
"A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential." John C. Maxwell
Finally, there's Praise. Praise is what we share after a person has a win. It externally confirms the win! It celebrates the journey. Internally, we might have self-satisfaction, but praise is when someone else steps out of their own world long enough to share the moment with us and verbalize the significance of what we've done or how we've done it. It's often common to see Encouragement and Praise show up together. Praise is for the successes, and Encouragement for what's still to be done. Look for a little sense of momentum to add to Praise, and you'll take people right back to Inspiration!
"Faint praise is akin to abuse." Danish Proverb
When is this important? It's in the stretch. If you are developing people, you're helping them grow, and they should be attempting new things. Again, we don't need much Inspiration, Encouragement and Praise to do what we've always done. It's in the stretch that we feel the tension. People need the support of Inspiration, Encouragement and Praise to succeed more quickly and in bigger ways.
Unfortunately, many leaders don't see the importance of these opportunities. Their styles gets labeled with other words to characterize their leadership choices such as: Command, Criticize and Complain. Those leaders miss out on the Triangle of Opportunity and, frankly, see many of their initiatives flat-line.
Trudy Menke - 4/7/2019