Business appreciation is a paradox. Appreciation is the one employee development tool that costs the business nothing. It is also the one benefit that all employees need and desire. According to Gallup, “Only one in three workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the past seven days.”

Leaders have enormous power to encourage and inspire their teams through their words and actions. If leaders learn this leadership secret, they can improve company morale, employee performance, and communication and teamwork.

Here’s how leaders can start their new role as “chief encouragement officer.”

1. Public Recognition

One of the best disciplines a CEO can develop is to praise people in public.

One way CEOs can do this is through tribal storytelling. Native American leaders would pass down key values from generation to generation by sharing and repeating certain stories throughout the tribe. CEOs would be wise to follow this tradition, giving examples of team members who acted on values and principles that the organization embodies.

2. Written Notes