In his blog, Three Minute Leadership, https://threeminuteleadership.com/, Michael Reuter wrote, “Encouragement is that magical gift that great leaders give to those whom they serve which opens someone’s eyes to a greater belief in their own possibilities. They see themselves as better than they believe they are, capable and more confident in what they choose to do.” He continues, “Great leaders are encouragers of those whom they serve.”
Another website, CUPAHR.org, has an article entitled, 10 Ways to Create a Culture of Encouragement at Work. https://www.cupahr.org/blog/10-ways-create-culture-encouragement-work/ The article begins with an important directive for effective leaders; “Encouragement is essential for employees to feel valued and engaged in the workplace, and leaders and supervisors should always be looking for ways in which they can encourage, affirm, recognize and value their team members.”
A culture of encouragement is actually a valuable investment in your parish community. In business terms, the return on investment for this relatively simple action on your part is remarkable. Your staff and volunteers will feel energized and engaged resulting in greater alignment in reaching goals to accomplish your vision.
Many of the suggestions in the CUPA article are applicable in your role as servant leader of your parish. It may seem counter-intuitive but one of the worst things you can do as a leader is to assume you know all the answers. Confidence is critical and needed. On the other hand, arrogance, or even the perception of arrogance, is dangerous. We should not be afraid to engage our staffs with questions to help us get to know them better.
Almost everyone enjoys praise and recognition for their efforts. It has often been said that you should critique or correct in private, but you should praise publicly. While most people would likely enjoy that, there may be some who are uncomfortable with public recognition. Therefore, it is important to understand that for each staff member.
You can begin by praising them privately and then asking them if it would be okay for you to mention their accomplishment in a more public setting such as a staff meeting. If they agree, the praise should be specific, not generic. As an example, while saying “great job” is a good start it might be better to say, “I really appreciated the effort of XXX when she did YYY as it accomplished ZZZ for the team.” That provides recognition for the individual and direction for the team.
In general, most pastors are very busy. It is easy to get lost in the daily task list. It is important, however, that you prioritize two things that we often ignore. Staff meetings should be held at least bi-weekly. This affords an opportunity to reconnect and also serves as an excellent forum for recognizing valued contributions. We also tend to forget the need to celebrate. While not every achievement calls for a party, major accomplishments do. It doesn’t need to be spectacular, even an occasional cake can make a difference.
As we said at the beginning of this post, encouragement is a “magical gift” that great leaders use frequently in their toolbox. Begin to practice this and you will see the positive impact on your overall parish culture.