Acknowledging what’s positive drives results and improves relationships.

We all have strengths and we all have growth opportunities; which do you focus most on for yourself? What about for your direct reports?

There’s no argument that negative behaviors and attitudes must be addressed, but time and energy must also be spent on acknowledging behaviors and actions that achieve desired results.

J. Donald Walters, author of The Art Of Leadership provides the following 7 tips:

1. Work to strengthen a subordinate’s best qualities, rather than harping on his worst. You will accomplish far more by encouraging others than by belittling them.

2. Work more with your organization’s strengths than with its weaknesses. Channel more energy to those people in it who are in tune with what you are doing than to those whose tendency is to resist you.

3. Don’t invest a disproportionate amount of energy in addressing negative situations. Strengthen the positive side, rather, and any negative vortices of energy that exist will tend either to be dissipated, or to remove themselves

4. Don’t allow subordinates to offer merely negative criticism. Teach them that they must earn the right to speak by offering solutions when they want to point out problems.

5. Encourage the doers under you, not the mere talkers.

6. Never court popularity for yourself. Be concerned with issues, principles, (and goals).

7. Never speak from your own emotions or private prejudices, but always from a sense of justice, fairness, and truth.

Awareness is a great starting point. Where and how do your team members excel? Do you leverage their “magic dust™”? Do you provide healthy feedback about individual and team accomplishments in addition to areas to be developed? Both will build strong relationships which ultimately helps achieve results.