reveal and remark redux
One of the most powerful things you can do is praise your team members in detailed and genuine ways. This is a formula I call “Reveal and Remark,” and all it takes is pointing out the connection between someone’s positive choices and better outcomes for all. The core criteria for effective “reveal and remark” are:
Praise behaviors, not people.
Recognize tiny choices.
Be specific — not “be more like Natalie.”
Remark publicly when possible.
Do it often. (This is the most important part.)
The next time you think about your ‘favorite’ employees, consciously work to identify the basic, replicable behaviors that make you think so fondly of those individuals. Then tell them about those behaviors you’re seeing and the positive impact they’re making.
Talking about these specific qualities with the other employees on your team promotes pointed growth in a direction that they can easily understand. For instance, encouraging employees to “follow up with sales leads at the end of each week, like Natalie does,” makes Natalie’s good habits much easier to emulate than when someone is simply told to “be more like Natalie.” This praise elevates Natalie to a new status that she will be driven to maintain and surpass.
Attention to the smallest details is incredibly helpful for stimulating growth. It can mean something as simple as, “John, it’s awesome that you always take the time to respond to all of your internal emails before you sign off for the day – that’s a huge help for our team.”
Anyone can “Reveal and Remark,” but managers should do it as a matter of routine. It demonstrably improves performance, and shouldn’t take longer than thirty minutes per week, even for those who are hesitant or uncomfortable giving praise. To establish a consistent practice and make the process feel less vulnerable, I encourage managers to put this task on their calendar each week and really visualize the outcomes of their compliments beforehand. Once you establish a regular process of praising your employees, reinforcing incremental growth becomes a fun and inspiring, instead of bogged down in the procedural mire of annual reviews or caught up in (mostly irrelevant) questions about authenticity and a leader’s personal preferences.
-ben
