Thursday February 19, 2015 #702

“Be an Encourager.  The world has enough critics.”

~Dave Willis

Honest and direct feedback is essential to our growth and development.  If you are not receiving a critical assessment of your performance regularly, be sure to seek it out.  You also have an obligation to provide critical feedback.  But don’t think that this is your main occupation.  Effective leadership and being a valued friend comes not from your criticisms, but rather your encouragement.  In fact, studies have shown that the ideal encouragement to critical feedback ratio, known as the “Losada Ratio” is approximately 3:1.  By all means, provide honest and critical feedback when it is warranted.  But pay attention to the Losada Ratio and be sure that your positive feedback is outpacing your negative feedback at least 3 to 1.