Is your praise creating dependency?

Colleagues,

I recently heard LaVonna Roth make an interesting point about rewards.

When we validate and praise people, we are providing an extrinsic reward. Overuse of intrinsic rewards leads to dependency.

If your people depend on you to tell them what they do well, they become more focused on pleasing you then on the positives they get from doing their work.

Intrinsic reward is a better motivator as it focuses us on the process rather than the outcome and leads to increased independence.

So instead of telling people what they did well, try asking them what they think they did well. It’s a small but potentially valuable switch.

Of course, you can and should still praise people, but be aware of developing the intrinsic rewards of the work.

Cheers!

​Frederick