A critical life skill is learning how to think through ideas and problems. Anytime you find yourself leading others, it’s important to find opportunities that help them acquire this skill. Providing advice and solutions is not the best approach, so what does work? This video reveals one way that gets great results.



Do you find it easy to use this approach for getting others to think through their problems and come up with their own solutions?

“A mediocre person tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person inspires others to see for themselves.” - Harvey Mackay, American author

“Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." - Peter Drucker, American author

My colleague Denny Coates has a great post on this topic that includes several questions you can ask, along with many helpful tips for asking questions the right way. Read his post here.

Giving feedback to someone who has created a problem for you is an important life skill. If you don’t do it well, the other person is likely to react defensively and shut down the conversation. When you learn the 4 steps for giving feedback the right way, you’ll see a big difference in the way that individual responds to your words.



When you've needed to give someone constructive feedback, did you follow these steps?

“One of the best ways to give better feedback is to get better at receiving feedback. When that happens, you are better able to put yourself in the shoes of the other person and give more helpful and successful feedback.” – Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris in From Bud to Boss

When you encounter a person who’s discouraged, giving advice or offering solutions doesn’t help them. So what is effective? There are actually four things you can do to encourage someone who’s in a bad place. When you apply these steps, you’ll be amazed at the impact you can have on another human being.



Which of the four steps involved in encouraging someone is easy for you?...or is hard for you?

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” - Leo Buscaglia, American author

“A helping word to one in trouble is often like a switch on a railroad track... an inch between wreck and smooth, rolling prosperity." - Henry Ward Beecher, American author

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesop, Greek fabulist

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” - Benjamin Franklin, American scientist

Most people hate conflict and will do whatever they can to avoid it. Discover three fears that may be keeping others from addressing a problem with you.



Are there people YOU are reluctant to address issues with? Which of the three fears keeps you from speaking up?

“Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” – William James, American psychologist

To learn from your experiences, it's important to reflect on what happened – for your successes and mistakes. If you don’t take this important step, you risk repeating mistakes and you may not make the most of your successes. Gaining insights from everything that happens to you will prepare you for greater positive results in the future.



What kinds of questions can you ask yourself after every important event to make sure you take away all the valuable lessons the experience has to offer?

“Good judgment comes from experience. And where does experience come from? Experience comes from bad judgment.” - Mark Twain, American novelist

“It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.” - John Wooden, American college basketball coach

“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” - Helen Keller, American author

I love encouraging action-oriented people to make changes that help them achieve greater success, both personally and professionally. I've been doing that as president of Performance Support Systems for the past 26 years and as an entrepreneur since 1982.

I'm very excited that our latest product, StrongForPerformance, gives leaders the tools they need to take their performance to the next level. This unique online coaching system combines assessment, learning resources and a self-selected network of support coaches to help people ingrain skills and new behavior patterns.

For many years, my business provided management consulting services. Then, in 1994 we published 20/20 Insight, a software program for hosting a wide variety of surveys. We later introduced Surveys for Small Business, designed to help small organizations get feedback from their customers and employees.

During the past 25 years, I've coached and encouraged hundreds of consultants and learning & development professionals who use our programs. I'm passionate about helping people discover how to leverage their strengths to achieve their goals.

On a personal note, my husband Lee and I have a grown daughter, Alison, who lives nearby with her husband and 2 children. They all bring tremendous joy to our lives, and we relish our role as grandparents. Lee and I are avid bird watchers. Observing nature at work is my favorite way to relax and be "in the moment."

You can reach me at: 
Performance Support Systems, Inc.
8270 Little England Rd
Hayes, VA  23072
800-488-6463 x201 or 757-656-4765
submit@yourvoiceofencouragement.com