November 5, 2025 • 29 mins
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What if the simplest lever for performance is the one leaders overlook? We dive into encouragement as a strategic practice—rooted in Scripture and confirmed by neuroscience—to show how specific, timely praise unlocks motivation, trust, and better results. From dopamine and oxytocin to the way the prefrontal cortex stays online under affirmation, we unpack why recognition boosts productivity and lowers turnover, and why criticism often shuts people down. Along the way, we name the numbers, the risks of disengagement, and the cultural costs when leaders stay silent.
We share a clear, usable playbook: five pillars of Christ-centered encouragement—be specific, timely, sincere, public, and proportional. Hear practical scripts that name the action and impact, examples of public praise and private correction, and a mix of channels from one-on-ones to handwritten notes. We also explore how to encourage the “invisibles,” offer micro-encouragements that take ten seconds, and use the ARC method (Acknowledge, Restore, Commission) to respond to mistakes without shaming people out of the arena.
This conversation also grounds the practice in the Bible: Jesus saying “take courage,” Ephesians 4:29’s call to build up, and leaders like Moses, David, and Nehemiah who spoke life in moments of risk and rebuilding. We field common leader worries—being introverted, “not seeing” wins, and fear of entitlement—and show how to tie praise to observable behaviors and character to keep standards high and culture healthy. If you want stronger teams, faster collaboration, and a brand people trust, start by making encouragement a daily discipline.
If this resonated, share it with a leader who needs it, subscribe for more faith-driven business insights, and leave a review with one encouragement you’ll try this week.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host Harry.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to the company
company's business.
SPEAKER_00 (00:17):
Thank you, Kelly, and uh welcome everyone to this
week's Christian BusinessConcepts Weekly Podcast.
And just want to thank you fordownloading this week's podcast.
And whether this is your firsttime or you are a longtime
listener, I hope you'll beencouraged and enlightened and
empowered by what you hear todayas we share biblical insights
(00:38):
and principles on businesssubjects that, if you apply
them, I believe will bring youtrue godly success.
You know, CBC continues to grow,and much of that is because many
of you are helping us by sharingthis podcast with four or five
other people each week and bysharing the link and putting it
on a on a post on on yourLinkedIn page or your face uh
(01:02):
Facebook pages.
And I greatly appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
But we're so excited that you'vedecided this week to download
this podcast and to make us apart of your regular uh growth
plan in your life.
So we thank you for that.
Now let me give a big shout outto Nottingham, Nottingham, and
(01:23):
Great Britain.
I want to thank you guys fordoing such a great job out
there.
Thank you for uh being a part ofthe CBC family and downloading
so many episodes this week.
We really appreciate you and allof those who listen regularly
and have added CBC to thatgrowth plan, as I said before.
So today I want to talk aboutsomething that I think is it can
(01:47):
really help you to be a betterleader and to help the people
around you as well.
Today I want to help equip youwith the knowledge and the
skills and the tools to harnessencouragement as a strategic
lever for individualperformance, for team cohesion,
(02:09):
for organizational success.
I want to talk aboutencouragement.
Encouragement is not justsomething that, oh, you know,
well, if I can, sometimes I tryto, you know.
Encouragement is a powerful toolin business.
It's a powerful tool for yourlife, it's a powerful tool to
help others.
And uh, if you just want to talkabout just the neuroscience
(02:32):
alone of encouragement, uh, youknow, when you have positive uh
reinforcement, it createsdopamine.
And dopamine helps withmotivation.
Uh, it also helps to produceoxytocin.
Oxytocin, it helps us to developtrust.
(02:55):
And so when you talk about theneuroscience of encouragement
alone, dopamine and oxytocin uhare tremendous benefits because,
again, it helps to motivate andbring trust.
You know, Harvard studies haveshown that a 31% productivity
boost comes when employees feelrecognized.
(03:16):
So I think that's reallyimportant.
And then you look at theopposite, you know, criticism
activates the threat responseaccording to psychology.
And uh encouragement keeps thatuh prefrontal cortex, the
problem-solving part of yourbrain, it keeps it online, keeps
(03:37):
it working.
So you have to understand thatthis is the neuroscience behind
encouragement.
It's more than just doing it.
It is, it is, there is ascientifically or scientific
reason for doing that.
You know, there the cost of notdoing it, well, you know, you
can look at 61% of employees,according to a recent Gallup
(04:00):
poll, 61% of employees say thattheir manager's lack of
encouragement is the number onereason that they just disengage.
And disengagement, according tostudies, cost United States
companies over$550 billionannually.
And so it's important.
(04:20):
You know, my mentor, JohnMaxwell, said a word of
encouragement from a teacher toa child can change a life.
A word of encouragement from aspouse can save a marriage.
A word of encouragement from aleader can inspire a person to
reach his or her potential.
I think that is so true.
Uh, you know, when you look atsome of the numbers when we when
(04:44):
we develop an encouragingenvironment within our
organizations or a culture thatrecognizes people, encourages
people, uh, there's a couple ofthings that you'll see.
Uh, number one, employeeretention.
According to a Gallup poll in2023, they they said that that
employee retention increased by37% when they began to have uh
(05:09):
an encouragement type ofenvironment within that
organization.
Uh innovation.
Innovation increased 44%.
And this is a Google Project umum uh study that they did, and
uh it was about uh an increaseof 44% in the number of ideas
that were submitted.
(05:30):
And then a sales quota alone.
Uh sales quota, according toSalesforce's internal study,
they found that encouragementincreases the sales uh sales
quota attainment by 19%.
And uh so those are just somenumbers here.
I'm just not making this stuffup.
Encouragement is reallyimportant.
(05:52):
And let me go on becauseencouragement is a biblical
mandate.
It is a biblical mandate.
Uh, you know, in Matthew chapter14, verse 27, um you know, Jesus
imitated encouragement.
You know, he he said uh at thatpoint there in Matthew 14, 27,
(06:13):
he said, take courage, takecourage.
He was trying to, he was tryingto encourage them.
In fact, seven times in theGospels, Jesus says, take heart
or be of good cheer.
Again, he's trying to beencouraging.
And so if the Son of Godprioritized encouragement in
storms, which is where he said,take courage, it is I, in storms
(06:38):
and in betrayals, I believe weneed to as well.
You know, the Bible says inEphesians 4.29, it says, Let no
corrupt talk come out of yourmouths, but only such as is good
for the building up as fits theoccasion that it may give grace
to those who hear.
So again, it's aboutencouragement.
(06:58):
Uh 1 Thessalonians 5 and 11says, encourage one another and
build each other up.
I think that's powerful.
And uh, you know, I like to takemy cues from God.
I like to take my cues from theWord of God.
That's why this is Christianbusiness concepts.
We we take biblical principlesand we apply them.
But encouragement is, you know,right now it's kind of become a
(07:21):
new thing within the corporateworld, but it's not new.
It's old.
It's been around for a longtime, and Jesus imitated it.
And uh so we we need us tounderstand, you know, you use
encouragement to ignite purposeand you ignite action.
You know, Hebrews 10, 24, 25says, spur one another on
(07:41):
towards love and good deeds.
Uh Proverbs 12, 25 says, anxietyweighs down the heart, but a
kind word cheers it up.
So your words have emotional andspiritual weight.
They have emotional andspiritual weight.
They have an impact.
And if you really understandencouragement and you take it
(08:03):
seriously, uh, I believe thatyou're gonna find that it's
gonna be a powerful tool andyou're gonna to really feel good
about yourself and others aroundyou, you're gonna encourage
them.
You know, Acts 9 and 26 and 27,you know, Barnabas kind of
vouched for Paul when otherpeople were afraid of him
(08:23):
because Paul had been converted.
But it but Barnabas got aroundPaul.
Paul was a little bitdiscouraged over that, but you
know, Barnabas vouched for himand encouraged Paul.
Uh, you know, and when you youdon't want to overlook the
opportunities that you have toencourage people.
You want to encourage thosepeople who've been overlooked,
(08:44):
or you maybe you want toencourage people that are new,
uh, or maybe people that arerecovering.
Uh, you know, uh uh Philemonsays in uh chapter one, verse
seven, it says, Your love hasgiven me great joy and
encouragement.
So encouragement refreshes notjust the people that you're
(09:05):
talking to and encouraging, butit encourages the leader as
well.
You know, um in the in the wordof God, there's 59 times where
it says one another.
Uh there's 12 of those 59 timesthat says encourage or build up.
And so it's it's in the word ofGod, it's so important.
(09:28):
You know, when you look atleadership, you look at Moses
and how that he publicly honoredJoshua before Israel in
Deuteronomy 31.
You know, uh in 1 Samuel chapter30, you see David, he
strengthens his men uh afterZiglag, after the loss there in
Ziglag.
So David encouraged his menaround him.
(09:51):
And and Nehemiah, Nehemiahrallied a lot of the people in
Jerusalem at the time to helphim rebuild the wall, but he
encouraged them.
He really, really encouragedthem.
So I, you know, when you look atthe word of God, you'll see a
very uh uh uh very specific uhways that you can encourage
(10:14):
people.
I will say, I'll call them thefive pillars of Christ-centered
encouragement.
So, first of all, be specific.
Be specific.
You know, when when Matthew inMatthew 25, we find the parable
about the talents, uh, and Jesussays in the talent that the
(10:34):
master says, well done, welldone.
And he begins to tell them whatthey did and why that was well
done.
So he was specific.
In other words, you might wantto say something like, hey, you
know, your quarter threeforecast accuracy was 98.7%.
Hey, great job.
The CFO really appreciated it.
Very specific, very specific.
(10:56):
And then it needs to be timely.
It needs to be timely.
You know, in Acts chapter 9, theBible says that Barnabas arrived
immediately after Paul'sconversion.
So you need to do itimmediately.
You don't want to wait for aweek and then try to encourage
somebody over something they dida week ago.
It loses its power, it loses itsumph, right?
(11:17):
And then he goes on and he says,um, uh, be sincere.
So first is be specific, then betimely, and then be sincere.
You know, the Bible says inEphesians 4 15, it says, speak
the truth in love.
You need to be be uh very, verysincere.
You need to make eye contact.
(11:37):
And you can say something like,Look, I really mean this.
And then give them thatencouraging word.
It's so important.
And then the fourth pillar ofthe five pillars of a
Christ-centered encouragement ispublic.
Public.
Do it publicly.
Jesus praised the centurion infront of the entire crowd when
the centurion said, Master, youdon't have to come to my house.
(11:59):
I'm a man of authority.
I recognize you're a man ofauthority.
All you have to do is say, youknow, that my child is healed
and she'll be healed.
You don't even have to bothercoming into my house.
And Jesus encouraged himpublicly.
He encouraged him uh publicly.
And then lastly, you want to beproportional.
You know, in Luke 12, it says,to whom much is given, you know,
(12:22):
much is required.
So you need to be proportional.
You know, you don't want yourencouragement to be outside the
realms of what had happened ortook place or what it is.
You you want that to balance.
You want to be proportionate.
So, what are some of thebenefits of having this culture
(12:43):
of encouragement?
Well, first of all, uh I thinkthere's this culture of
encouragement it it produces forthe individual, uh, for an
individual person, it reallyhelps to reduce stress, reduce
burnout, it gives them greaterjob satisfaction, it gives them
increased confidence, and ithelps them to grow as a person.
(13:04):
So that's what it does for theindividual.
Now, for a team, when you havethat culture of encouragement,
for a team, what it does is itstarts to build this high level
of trust.
It develops collaboration.
And also when there's conflict,it resolves itself a lot faster.
Uh, there's more initiative,there's more ownership, and
(13:25):
there's this inclusiveness thatpeople begin to feel.
And then for the organization,well, you get a stronger brand.
You know, when people look atyour brand, they see that your
company, what your company islike, and the encouraging words
that your company has and howthey treat each other, and it
just gives you a stronger brandand a greater reputation.
(13:46):
You'll have lower turnover, soyou'll have lower HR costs.
And then you begin to attracttop talent because they hear
about how you treat your people.
And it gives you goodsustainable growth.
So I think those are those areimportant things to remember
because listen, people don'tleave jobs, they leave culture.
(14:07):
Let me say it again so you getit.
People don't leave jobs, theyleave cultures.
And encouragement is the glue ofa healthy culture.
So if you have a healthyculture, you'll have less tone
over turnover.
If you have an unhealthyculture, you'll have more
turnover.
It's that simple.
So, what are some bestpractices?
How do I encourage peopleeffectively?
(14:29):
Well, we already mentioned one.
So that is be specific, besincere, but be specific, you
know.
So, like, like what you don'twant to do is just go up, hey,
good job, team.
That's that that's not specific.
You know, you could saysomething like, Hey Sarah, you
know, your attention to detailin the quarter three forecast,
you know, you caught a$40,000error.
(14:51):
That saved us.
Great job.
Okay, so that was very specific.
So, you know, when you do that,what you want to do is you want
to say their name, say theiraction, what they did, and then
include the impact of what theydid.
In other words, like, John, theway you stayed late to help the
new hire on board showed trueservant leadership.
(15:15):
It strengthened the whole team.
Okay, so that again, the name,the action, and the impact that
it had.
So be specific.
The second principle is you needto encourage in public, but you
correct people in private.
So public praise multipliesmotivation.
(15:35):
You can see that in Proverbs,you know, chapter 27, verse 2.
It says, Let another man praiseyou.
And he goes on to explain howthat is so motivating.
Uh also, private correctionpreserves that person's dignity.
You know, one of my pet peevesis when I go into a public place
and and you know, and a manageris berating one of the employees
(15:57):
in front of all the patrons thatare standing there in the
restaurant or seating, uhsitting in the restaurant.
I I hate that.
I've actually, you know, um, tomy wife's embarrassment, there's
been times when I've actuallygot up and went over and said
something because it's justyou're you're basically you're
destroying that person's dignityand you don't want to do that.
(16:18):
So you want to do it in public,but you want to correct in
private.
A third one is you want to usemultiple channels, and this is
important.
You know, if you really want tohave a deep impact, you give
somebody a handwritten note.
They mean so much today becausenobody writes out notes anymore.
I just got a note from uh JohnMaxwell's office.
(16:41):
Um he's my mentor, and I'mactually a certified uh uh coach
and trainer and speaker for JohnMaxwell.
And I got a handwritten note uhfrom his office this week.
It was very uplifting, veryencouraging, because nobody
writes handwritten notes.
It takes time, it takes effort.
It's very personal.
So if you want to have a deepimpact, you can you can hand
(17:02):
write a note.
Uh you can do a public shoutout.
Hey, team, I just wanted toencourage everybody because of
what John did, and then youencourage John, but you do it in
front of those people, and thatreally lifts that person up.
And then you can do itone-on-one.
You know, you give thatone-on-one affirmation when we
talk to them, and that reallyhelps them to grow personally.
(17:25):
That helps them to growpersonally.
And then you can give them somekind of tangible reward.
You can give them a gift card.
Uh, you can give them a bonus.
I'll never forgot or forget whenI was working uh for the company
I'd worked for for so manyyears, and uh during COVID, uh,
we lost a lot of key people.
(17:45):
And so I went out for six monthsand I would get to the factory
at five o'clock in the morning,and I would help the guys in in
my department or in thedivision, I should say, that I
was responsible for.
I would go out in the factoryand help them produce orders so
that we could keep the ordersflowing.
(18:06):
I did that for six months.
Uh for about six months later, Ihad somebody from the office
call me into the president'soffice, and he called me in and
he slid an envelope across thedesk to me.
He said, Harold, we want you toknow that you've been noticed
and recognized for the massiveefforts that you have put in.
We know the work you're doing athome.
(18:28):
We know the extra work that youcome here extra early and stay
late, and we know it's been avery trying time the last six
months.
We just want you to know werecognize it.
I opened it up and it was a hugecheck, big, big check.
Uh, we're talking severalthousands of dollars.
And they just gave that to mebecause of uh the fact that I
had done this extra, put in theextra.
(18:50):
Um, but but you don't have to dosomething that big, you don't
have to give thousands andthousands of dollars, but you
can give a gift card, you know,give them a gift certificate to
a really nice restaurant forthat person and their and their
partner, you know, their wife ortheir girlfriend, boyfriend,
whatever.
And you can do those kinds ofthings.
Those are great channels forencouragement.
(19:11):
Uh and then encourage theinvisibles.
This is I call them theinvisibles, encourage them.
Whenever I go to a trade show,one of the when when I go to the
bathroom, there's normallysomebody, at least during that
trade show, I'm going to meetthe person who's cleaning that
bathroom.
And I stop, I take time out, andI thank them.
(19:33):
I thank them for keeping itclean.
I thank them for the work thatthey're doing.
I just try to encourage them.
But you encourage those people,encourage the janitors, and
encourage the admins, encouragethe night shift workers, you
know, the people that in theirminds they're invisible.
You know, that quiet person whocontributes and never seeks
(19:53):
credit.
You know, the the the theemployee who's struggling, who's
trying, you know, Jesus noticedthe widow's might.
She didn't have anything.
She was of no stature, she wasnot an important person, but he
noticed her.
So who are you overlooking?
That's the question.
Who are you overlooking?
Who are you overlooking?
(20:15):
Here's another principle.
Micro encouragement.
Now, what is that?
Well, that takes about 10seconds.
You know, it's uh you can callit a walk by praise or a walk by
encouragement if you want.
Uh, you know, you can just I'llgive you an example.
Hey, I saw your email to theclient, John.
I saw your email to the client.
Perfect tone.
(20:35):
Great job.
Keep walking.
That's a micro encouragement.
Took 10 seconds.
Uh, you know, when you you whenyou get into more like a uh
narrative encouragement, whichis the next principle, you're
talking more of about a 30 or 60seconds it takes.
But again, you talk about theirbehavior, the impact it had,
(20:56):
maybe the future, you know,something like uh, you know,
hey, when you volunteered tolead the RFP response behavior,
you know, that's the behavior.
We won the$2 million deal afterthat.
So there's the impact.
And I'm excited to see you runpoint on the next project.
There's the future, right?
But now here's another thing.
What happens when you havesomebody that has a setback?
(21:19):
Maybe they made a mistake, maybesomething didn't go as well.
You need to encourage them too.
And and I say that you use theARC method, ARC, use the ARC
method.
First of all, acknowledge them.
Just acknowledge the situation,acknowledge the setback.
You know, Psalms 30 and 5 says,weeping may stay for the night,
(21:39):
but joy comes in the morning.
So yeah, we we had a badsituation, so you got to
acknowledge that.
But then you restore them.
Hey, look, that that happened,but you know what?
I know that you've got greaterthings in you, and this is gonna
be one of those things thatyou're gonna learn from, but
you're gonna move on.
(22:01):
You're gonna move on.
So don't live in this, move on.
And then that's you commissionthem.
So you acknowledge them, yourestore them, and you commission
them.
So ARC, ARC.
And you want to do that forthose people because you want to
encourage those people who makemistakes, encourage those people
who experience setbacks.
Uh, you know, so you you need tomake sure that you do that.
(22:23):
You need to do that.
So, you know, I think aboutChick-fil-A, you know, uh Truett
Kathy started Chick-fil-A.
Uh, this goes back to the 1990s,you know, when they were
starting to do a lot of theirtraining and training um
sessions.
And Truett Cathy mandated thatevery store operator write one
(22:43):
handwritten note ofencouragement per shift to an
employee every day.
And uh one of the operatorssaid, uh one of the managers,
and he said, Dan, he said, um,you know, I'm just really,
really shy and everything, butyour note really, really
(23:04):
encouraged me because he toldher in his in her note, he just
said, your smile today reflectedJesus' joy.
Keep on shining.
And that really, reallyencouraged her.
But here's the story, the end ofthe story.
That teen at that time, shewound up becoming a 20-year
veteran and a vice president ofChick-fil-A, one of their vice
presidents.
(23:25):
So today, Chick-fil-A's turnoveris 60% below what the industry
average is in the food industry.
And uh a lot of the operatorswill tell you that a big part of
that is those notes that theysign and write every single day.
So you need to make sure thatbecause personalized
encouragement, it really turnsemployees into really lifelong
(23:49):
employees, lifelong ambassadorsfor your company.
You know, and as I read in 1Thessalonians, again, encourage
one another and build each otherup.
And so you may have somequestions.
You may say, well, you know, II'm introverted.
You know, public praise for me,when I try to do it, it feels
forced.
Okay, that's fine.
Start with one-on-one notes, youknow, because they're gonna have
(24:12):
a great impact.
And uh, and and and so juststart with one-on-one notes.
Well, you know, here's anotherone.
You know, what if I don't seeanything praiseworthy?
Well, then lower the bar alittle bit uh and apply it to
effort or learning.
You know, hey, I saw you askthree clarifying questions in
the requirements call.
(24:32):
Hey, great diligence.
That's an encouragement.
Okay.
Um, here's another question thatI've had.
Won't this create entitlement?
I don't want to, I don't want tocreate an entitlement state.
I had a CEO one time that wasreally worried about that.
So he's really guarded aboutgiving encouragement.
But you want to tieencouragement to specific
(24:52):
behaviors.
That's why we talked about theactions.
You want to encourage, you wantto encourage people, but you got
to tie it to specific behaviorsand not their identity.
Entitlement comes from vague andunearned praise.
That's where it comes from.
So when you tie yourencouragement to sp to specific
(25:13):
behaviors, then you won't createthat sense of entitlement.
You know, so that's important.
You know, the new the the thethe important part of of what
we're doing is is so incrediblein our organizations.
I don't care what your businessis, but this whole idea, this
principle of encouragement is sopowerful.
(25:35):
But now you gotta be careful ofsome things.
There's some things that you youyou gotta be careful of.
There's some pitfalls, right?
So the first one is flattery.
There's something differentbetween encouragement and
flattery.
Uh, you know, Psalms chapter 12talks about they flatter with
their lips.
Well, we're not talking aboutflattery, but you got to be
(25:57):
careful because that's not whatyou're looking to do.
You want to be very specific anduh you want to make sure you
have discernment, but don'tflatter.
That's not what you're trying todo.
Then the next thing you got towatch for, another pitfall is
partiality.
You can't show favoritism.
John chapter 2, verses 1 through4 talks about that.
So you don't want to showfavoritism.
(26:20):
Now, what you may want to do ifyou do something really notable
for somebody, maybe you you youwant to keep track of that.
You want to keep track of it andmake sure that you're not
becoming partial to any oneperson.
And then you have to be weary ofthe of the pitfall that is
performance idolatry.
(26:41):
What do I mean by that?
Well, I mean that that everybodyjust worships performance and
not the person.
And so we you have to you haveto tie your the the praise that
you're giving to character atleast 50% of the time.
At least not just performance,but character issues as well.
Don't make it all aboutperformance.
(27:03):
You know, Joel Olstein said thisif we're going to bring out the
best in people, we too need tosow seeds of encouragement.
Let me say it again.
If we're going to bring the bestout in people, we too need to
sow seeds of encouragement.
So when you begin to see thepower of encouragement, when you
begin encouraging others, you'llencourage yourself.
(27:27):
And then you'll begin to seethat encouragement is not merely
a nice gesture.
I say it's jet fuel for theengines that'll help your
business soar as God intended.
Father, I come to you right nowin the name of Jesus.
And Lord, I'm asking you tominister to every heart, Lord,
who's listened to this podcast.
(27:48):
Help them to see the power,Lord, of encouraging others.
Help them to apply these godlyprinciples, Lord, these biblical
principles, Lord.
Help them to apply them toencourage others and make their
organization have a culture anda uh, Lord, just a tremendous,
(28:09):
uh, tremendous environment,Lord, of encouragement.
And Lord, I thank you for thatand I praise you for it.
In the name of Jesus, amen andamen.
Well, thanks again for tuninginto this week's uh Christian
Business Concepts Podcast.
And uh again, be sure to sharethat with four or five other
(28:30):
people.
Put the link to this podcast ona post that you put on your
LinkedIn or your Facebook page.
We just really appreciate youhelping us to grow the CBC
family.
And uh we're so thankful thatyou're a part of that.
So looks like that's all thetime we have for this week.
So until next time, remember,Jesus is Lord and He wants you
(28:55):
blessed.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Thank you for tuning in to this week's Christian
Business Concept Podcast.
Go to Christian BusinessConcept.com for more information
and resources.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host Harry.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to the company
company's business.
SPEAKER_00 (00:17):
Thank you, Kelly, and uh welcome everyone to this
week's Christian BusinessConcepts Weekly Podcast.
And just want to thank you fordownloading this week's podcast.
And whether this is your firsttime or you are a longtime
listener, I hope you'll beencouraged and enlightened and
empowered by what you hear todayas we share biblical insights
(00:38):
and principles on businesssubjects that, if you apply
them, I believe will bring youtrue godly success.
You know, CBC continues to grow,and much of that is because many
of you are helping us by sharingthis podcast with four or five
other people each week and bysharing the link and putting it
on a on a post on on yourLinkedIn page or your face uh
(01:02):
Facebook pages.
And I greatly appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
But we're so excited that you'vedecided this week to download
this podcast and to make us apart of your regular uh growth
plan in your life.
So we thank you for that.
Now let me give a big shout outto Nottingham, Nottingham, and
(01:23):
Great Britain.
I want to thank you guys fordoing such a great job out
there.
Thank you for uh being a part ofthe CBC family and downloading
so many episodes this week.
We really appreciate you and allof those who listen regularly
and have added CBC to thatgrowth plan, as I said before.
So today I want to talk aboutsomething that I think is it can
(01:47):
really help you to be a betterleader and to help the people
around you as well.
Today I want to help equip youwith the knowledge and the
skills and the tools to harnessencouragement as a strategic
lever for individualperformance, for team cohesion,
(02:09):
for organizational success.
I want to talk aboutencouragement.
Encouragement is not justsomething that, oh, you know,
well, if I can, sometimes I tryto, you know.
Encouragement is a powerful toolin business.
It's a powerful tool for yourlife, it's a powerful tool to
help others.
And uh, if you just want to talkabout just the neuroscience
(02:32):
alone of encouragement, uh, youknow, when you have positive uh
reinforcement, it createsdopamine.
And dopamine helps withmotivation.
Uh, it also helps to produceoxytocin.
Oxytocin, it helps us to developtrust.
(02:55):
And so when you talk about theneuroscience of encouragement
alone, dopamine and oxytocin uhare tremendous benefits because,
again, it helps to motivate andbring trust.
You know, Harvard studies haveshown that a 31% productivity
boost comes when employees feelrecognized.
(03:16):
So I think that's reallyimportant.
And then you look at theopposite, you know, criticism
activates the threat responseaccording to psychology.
And uh encouragement keeps thatuh prefrontal cortex, the
problem-solving part of yourbrain, it keeps it online, keeps
(03:37):
it working.
So you have to understand thatthis is the neuroscience behind
encouragement.
It's more than just doing it.
It is, it is, there is ascientifically or scientific
reason for doing that.
You know, there the cost of notdoing it, well, you know, you
can look at 61% of employees,according to a recent Gallup
(04:00):
poll, 61% of employees say thattheir manager's lack of
encouragement is the number onereason that they just disengage.
And disengagement, according tostudies, cost United States
companies over$550 billionannually.
And so it's important.
(04:20):
You know, my mentor, JohnMaxwell, said a word of
encouragement from a teacher toa child can change a life.
A word of encouragement from aspouse can save a marriage.
A word of encouragement from aleader can inspire a person to
reach his or her potential.
I think that is so true.
Uh, you know, when you look atsome of the numbers when we when
(04:44):
we develop an encouragingenvironment within our
organizations or a culture thatrecognizes people, encourages
people, uh, there's a couple ofthings that you'll see.
Uh, number one, employeeretention.
According to a Gallup poll in2023, they they said that that
employee retention increased by37% when they began to have uh
(05:09):
an encouragement type ofenvironment within that
organization.
Uh innovation.
Innovation increased 44%.
And this is a Google Project umum uh study that they did, and
uh it was about uh an increaseof 44% in the number of ideas
that were submitted.
(05:30):
And then a sales quota alone.
Uh sales quota, according toSalesforce's internal study,
they found that encouragementincreases the sales uh sales
quota attainment by 19%.
And uh so those are just somenumbers here.
I'm just not making this stuffup.
Encouragement is reallyimportant.
(05:52):
And let me go on becauseencouragement is a biblical
mandate.
It is a biblical mandate.
Uh, you know, in Matthew chapter14, verse 27, um you know, Jesus
imitated encouragement.
You know, he he said uh at thatpoint there in Matthew 14, 27,
(06:13):
he said, take courage, takecourage.
He was trying to, he was tryingto encourage them.
In fact, seven times in theGospels, Jesus says, take heart
or be of good cheer.
Again, he's trying to beencouraging.
And so if the Son of Godprioritized encouragement in
storms, which is where he said,take courage, it is I, in storms
(06:38):
and in betrayals, I believe weneed to as well.
You know, the Bible says inEphesians 4.29, it says, Let no
corrupt talk come out of yourmouths, but only such as is good
for the building up as fits theoccasion that it may give grace
to those who hear.
So again, it's aboutencouragement.
(06:58):
Uh 1 Thessalonians 5 and 11says, encourage one another and
build each other up.
I think that's powerful.
And uh, you know, I like to takemy cues from God.
I like to take my cues from theWord of God.
That's why this is Christianbusiness concepts.
We we take biblical principlesand we apply them.
But encouragement is, you know,right now it's kind of become a
(07:21):
new thing within the corporateworld, but it's not new.
It's old.
It's been around for a longtime, and Jesus imitated it.
And uh so we we need us tounderstand, you know, you use
encouragement to ignite purposeand you ignite action.
You know, Hebrews 10, 24, 25says, spur one another on
(07:41):
towards love and good deeds.
Uh Proverbs 12, 25 says, anxietyweighs down the heart, but a
kind word cheers it up.
So your words have emotional andspiritual weight.
They have emotional andspiritual weight.
They have an impact.
And if you really understandencouragement and you take it
(08:03):
seriously, uh, I believe thatyou're gonna find that it's
gonna be a powerful tool andyou're gonna to really feel good
about yourself and others aroundyou, you're gonna encourage
them.
You know, Acts 9 and 26 and 27,you know, Barnabas kind of
vouched for Paul when otherpeople were afraid of him
(08:23):
because Paul had been converted.
But it but Barnabas got aroundPaul.
Paul was a little bitdiscouraged over that, but you
know, Barnabas vouched for himand encouraged Paul.
Uh, you know, and when you youdon't want to overlook the
opportunities that you have toencourage people.
You want to encourage thosepeople who've been overlooked,
(08:44):
or you maybe you want toencourage people that are new,
uh, or maybe people that arerecovering.
Uh, you know, uh uh Philemonsays in uh chapter one, verse
seven, it says, Your love hasgiven me great joy and
encouragement.
So encouragement refreshes notjust the people that you're
(09:05):
talking to and encouraging, butit encourages the leader as
well.
You know, um in the in the wordof God, there's 59 times where
it says one another.
Uh there's 12 of those 59 timesthat says encourage or build up.
And so it's it's in the word ofGod, it's so important.
(09:28):
You know, when you look atleadership, you look at Moses
and how that he publicly honoredJoshua before Israel in
Deuteronomy 31.
You know, uh in 1 Samuel chapter30, you see David, he
strengthens his men uh afterZiglag, after the loss there in
Ziglag.
So David encouraged his menaround him.
(09:51):
And and Nehemiah, Nehemiahrallied a lot of the people in
Jerusalem at the time to helphim rebuild the wall, but he
encouraged them.
He really, really encouragedthem.
So I, you know, when you look atthe word of God, you'll see a
very uh uh uh very specific uhways that you can encourage
(10:14):
people.
I will say, I'll call them thefive pillars of Christ-centered
encouragement.
So, first of all, be specific.
Be specific.
You know, when when Matthew inMatthew 25, we find the parable
about the talents, uh, and Jesussays in the talent that the
(10:34):
master says, well done, welldone.
And he begins to tell them whatthey did and why that was well
done.
So he was specific.
In other words, you might wantto say something like, hey, you
know, your quarter threeforecast accuracy was 98.7%.
Hey, great job.
The CFO really appreciated it.
Very specific, very specific.
(10:56):
And then it needs to be timely.
It needs to be timely.
You know, in Acts chapter 9, theBible says that Barnabas arrived
immediately after Paul'sconversion.
So you need to do itimmediately.
You don't want to wait for aweek and then try to encourage
somebody over something they dida week ago.
It loses its power, it loses itsumph, right?
(11:17):
And then he goes on and he says,um, uh, be sincere.
So first is be specific, then betimely, and then be sincere.
You know, the Bible says inEphesians 4 15, it says, speak
the truth in love.
You need to be be uh very, verysincere.
You need to make eye contact.
(11:37):
And you can say something like,Look, I really mean this.
And then give them thatencouraging word.
It's so important.
And then the fourth pillar ofthe five pillars of a
Christ-centered encouragement ispublic.
Public.
Do it publicly.
Jesus praised the centurion infront of the entire crowd when
the centurion said, Master, youdon't have to come to my house.
(11:59):
I'm a man of authority.
I recognize you're a man ofauthority.
All you have to do is say, youknow, that my child is healed
and she'll be healed.
You don't even have to bothercoming into my house.
And Jesus encouraged himpublicly.
He encouraged him uh publicly.
And then lastly, you want to beproportional.
You know, in Luke 12, it says,to whom much is given, you know,
(12:22):
much is required.
So you need to be proportional.
You know, you don't want yourencouragement to be outside the
realms of what had happened ortook place or what it is.
You you want that to balance.
You want to be proportionate.
So, what are some of thebenefits of having this culture
(12:43):
of encouragement?
Well, first of all, uh I thinkthere's this culture of
encouragement it it produces forthe individual, uh, for an
individual person, it reallyhelps to reduce stress, reduce
burnout, it gives them greaterjob satisfaction, it gives them
increased confidence, and ithelps them to grow as a person.
(13:04):
So that's what it does for theindividual.
Now, for a team, when you havethat culture of encouragement,
for a team, what it does is itstarts to build this high level
of trust.
It develops collaboration.
And also when there's conflict,it resolves itself a lot faster.
Uh, there's more initiative,there's more ownership, and
(13:25):
there's this inclusiveness thatpeople begin to feel.
And then for the organization,well, you get a stronger brand.
You know, when people look atyour brand, they see that your
company, what your company islike, and the encouraging words
that your company has and howthey treat each other, and it
just gives you a stronger brandand a greater reputation.
(13:46):
You'll have lower turnover, soyou'll have lower HR costs.
And then you begin to attracttop talent because they hear
about how you treat your people.
And it gives you goodsustainable growth.
So I think those are those areimportant things to remember
because listen, people don'tleave jobs, they leave culture.
(14:07):
Let me say it again so you getit.
People don't leave jobs, theyleave cultures.
And encouragement is the glue ofa healthy culture.
So if you have a healthyculture, you'll have less tone
over turnover.
If you have an unhealthyculture, you'll have more
turnover.
It's that simple.
So, what are some bestpractices?
How do I encourage peopleeffectively?
(14:29):
Well, we already mentioned one.
So that is be specific, besincere, but be specific, you
know.
So, like, like what you don'twant to do is just go up, hey,
good job, team.
That's that that's not specific.
You know, you could saysomething like, Hey Sarah, you
know, your attention to detailin the quarter three forecast,
you know, you caught a$40,000error.
(14:51):
That saved us.
Great job.
Okay, so that was very specific.
So, you know, when you do that,what you want to do is you want
to say their name, say theiraction, what they did, and then
include the impact of what theydid.
In other words, like, John, theway you stayed late to help the
new hire on board showed trueservant leadership.
(15:15):
It strengthened the whole team.
Okay, so that again, the name,the action, and the impact that
it had.
So be specific.
The second principle is you needto encourage in public, but you
correct people in private.
So public praise multipliesmotivation.
(15:35):
You can see that in Proverbs,you know, chapter 27, verse 2.
It says, Let another man praiseyou.
And he goes on to explain howthat is so motivating.
Uh also, private correctionpreserves that person's dignity.
You know, one of my pet peevesis when I go into a public place
and and you know, and a manageris berating one of the employees
(15:57):
in front of all the patrons thatare standing there in the
restaurant or seating, uhsitting in the restaurant.
I I hate that.
I've actually, you know, um, tomy wife's embarrassment, there's
been times when I've actuallygot up and went over and said
something because it's justyou're you're basically you're
destroying that person's dignityand you don't want to do that.
(16:18):
So you want to do it in public,but you want to correct in
private.
A third one is you want to usemultiple channels, and this is
important.
You know, if you really want tohave a deep impact, you give
somebody a handwritten note.
They mean so much today becausenobody writes out notes anymore.
I just got a note from uh JohnMaxwell's office.
(16:41):
Um he's my mentor, and I'mactually a certified uh uh coach
and trainer and speaker for JohnMaxwell.
And I got a handwritten note uhfrom his office this week.
It was very uplifting, veryencouraging, because nobody
writes handwritten notes.
It takes time, it takes effort.
It's very personal.
So if you want to have a deepimpact, you can you can hand
(17:02):
write a note.
Uh you can do a public shoutout.
Hey, team, I just wanted toencourage everybody because of
what John did, and then youencourage John, but you do it in
front of those people, and thatreally lifts that person up.
And then you can do itone-on-one.
You know, you give thatone-on-one affirmation when we
talk to them, and that reallyhelps them to grow personally.
(17:25):
That helps them to growpersonally.
And then you can give them somekind of tangible reward.
You can give them a gift card.
Uh, you can give them a bonus.
I'll never forgot or forget whenI was working uh for the company
I'd worked for for so manyyears, and uh during COVID, uh,
we lost a lot of key people.
(17:45):
And so I went out for six monthsand I would get to the factory
at five o'clock in the morning,and I would help the guys in in
my department or in thedivision, I should say, that I
was responsible for.
I would go out in the factoryand help them produce orders so
that we could keep the ordersflowing.
(18:06):
I did that for six months.
Uh for about six months later, Ihad somebody from the office
call me into the president'soffice, and he called me in and
he slid an envelope across thedesk to me.
He said, Harold, we want you toknow that you've been noticed
and recognized for the massiveefforts that you have put in.
We know the work you're doing athome.
(18:28):
We know the extra work that youcome here extra early and stay
late, and we know it's been avery trying time the last six
months.
We just want you to know werecognize it.
I opened it up and it was a hugecheck, big, big check.
Uh, we're talking severalthousands of dollars.
And they just gave that to mebecause of uh the fact that I
had done this extra, put in theextra.
(18:50):
Um, but but you don't have to dosomething that big, you don't
have to give thousands andthousands of dollars, but you
can give a gift card, you know,give them a gift certificate to
a really nice restaurant forthat person and their and their
partner, you know, their wife ortheir girlfriend, boyfriend,
whatever.
And you can do those kinds ofthings.
Those are great channels forencouragement.
(19:11):
Uh and then encourage theinvisibles.
This is I call them theinvisibles, encourage them.
Whenever I go to a trade show,one of the when when I go to the
bathroom, there's normallysomebody, at least during that
trade show, I'm going to meetthe person who's cleaning that
bathroom.
And I stop, I take time out, andI thank them.
(19:33):
I thank them for keeping itclean.
I thank them for the work thatthey're doing.
I just try to encourage them.
But you encourage those people,encourage the janitors, and
encourage the admins, encouragethe night shift workers, you
know, the people that in theirminds they're invisible.
You know, that quiet person whocontributes and never seeks
(19:53):
credit.
You know, the the the theemployee who's struggling, who's
trying, you know, Jesus noticedthe widow's might.
She didn't have anything.
She was of no stature, she wasnot an important person, but he
noticed her.
So who are you overlooking?
That's the question.
Who are you overlooking?
Who are you overlooking?
(20:15):
Here's another principle.
Micro encouragement.
Now, what is that?
Well, that takes about 10seconds.
You know, it's uh you can callit a walk by praise or a walk by
encouragement if you want.
Uh, you know, you can just I'llgive you an example.
Hey, I saw your email to theclient, John.
I saw your email to the client.
Perfect tone.
(20:35):
Great job.
Keep walking.
That's a micro encouragement.
Took 10 seconds.
Uh, you know, when you you whenyou get into more like a uh
narrative encouragement, whichis the next principle, you're
talking more of about a 30 or 60seconds it takes.
But again, you talk about theirbehavior, the impact it had,
(20:56):
maybe the future, you know,something like uh, you know,
hey, when you volunteered tolead the RFP response behavior,
you know, that's the behavior.
We won the$2 million deal afterthat.
So there's the impact.
And I'm excited to see you runpoint on the next project.
There's the future, right?
But now here's another thing.
What happens when you havesomebody that has a setback?
(21:19):
Maybe they made a mistake, maybesomething didn't go as well.
You need to encourage them too.
And and I say that you use theARC method, ARC, use the ARC
method.
First of all, acknowledge them.
Just acknowledge the situation,acknowledge the setback.
You know, Psalms 30 and 5 says,weeping may stay for the night,
(21:39):
but joy comes in the morning.
So yeah, we we had a badsituation, so you got to
acknowledge that.
But then you restore them.
Hey, look, that that happened,but you know what?
I know that you've got greaterthings in you, and this is gonna
be one of those things thatyou're gonna learn from, but
you're gonna move on.
(22:01):
You're gonna move on.
So don't live in this, move on.
And then that's you commissionthem.
So you acknowledge them, yourestore them, and you commission
them.
So ARC, ARC.
And you want to do that forthose people because you want to
encourage those people who makemistakes, encourage those people
who experience setbacks.
Uh, you know, so you you need tomake sure that you do that.
(22:23):
You need to do that.
So, you know, I think aboutChick-fil-A, you know, uh Truett
Kathy started Chick-fil-A.
Uh, this goes back to the 1990s,you know, when they were
starting to do a lot of theirtraining and training um
sessions.
And Truett Cathy mandated thatevery store operator write one
(22:43):
handwritten note ofencouragement per shift to an
employee every day.
And uh one of the operatorssaid, uh one of the managers,
and he said, Dan, he said, um,you know, I'm just really,
really shy and everything, butyour note really, really
(23:04):
encouraged me because he toldher in his in her note, he just
said, your smile today reflectedJesus' joy.
Keep on shining.
And that really, reallyencouraged her.
But here's the story, the end ofthe story.
That teen at that time, shewound up becoming a 20-year
veteran and a vice president ofChick-fil-A, one of their vice
presidents.
(23:25):
So today, Chick-fil-A's turnoveris 60% below what the industry
average is in the food industry.
And uh a lot of the operatorswill tell you that a big part of
that is those notes that theysign and write every single day.
So you need to make sure thatbecause personalized
encouragement, it really turnsemployees into really lifelong
(23:49):
employees, lifelong ambassadorsfor your company.
You know, and as I read in 1Thessalonians, again, encourage
one another and build each otherup.
And so you may have somequestions.
You may say, well, you know, II'm introverted.
You know, public praise for me,when I try to do it, it feels
forced.
Okay, that's fine.
Start with one-on-one notes, youknow, because they're gonna have
(24:12):
a great impact.
And uh, and and and so juststart with one-on-one notes.
Well, you know, here's anotherone.
You know, what if I don't seeanything praiseworthy?
Well, then lower the bar alittle bit uh and apply it to
effort or learning.
You know, hey, I saw you askthree clarifying questions in
the requirements call.
(24:32):
Hey, great diligence.
That's an encouragement.
Okay.
Um, here's another question thatI've had.
Won't this create entitlement?
I don't want to, I don't want tocreate an entitlement state.
I had a CEO one time that wasreally worried about that.
So he's really guarded aboutgiving encouragement.
But you want to tieencouragement to specific
(24:52):
behaviors.
That's why we talked about theactions.
You want to encourage, you wantto encourage people, but you got
to tie it to specific behaviorsand not their identity.
Entitlement comes from vague andunearned praise.
That's where it comes from.
So when you tie yourencouragement to sp to specific
(25:13):
behaviors, then you won't createthat sense of entitlement.
You know, so that's important.
You know, the new the the thethe important part of of what
we're doing is is so incrediblein our organizations.
I don't care what your businessis, but this whole idea, this
principle of encouragement is sopowerful.
(25:35):
But now you gotta be careful ofsome things.
There's some things that you youyou gotta be careful of.
There's some pitfalls, right?
So the first one is flattery.
There's something differentbetween encouragement and
flattery.
Uh, you know, Psalms chapter 12talks about they flatter with
their lips.
Well, we're not talking aboutflattery, but you got to be
(25:57):
careful because that's not whatyou're looking to do.
You want to be very specific anduh you want to make sure you
have discernment, but don'tflatter.
That's not what you're trying todo.
Then the next thing you got towatch for, another pitfall is
partiality.
You can't show favoritism.
John chapter 2, verses 1 through4 talks about that.
So you don't want to showfavoritism.
(26:20):
Now, what you may want to do ifyou do something really notable
for somebody, maybe you you youwant to keep track of that.
You want to keep track of it andmake sure that you're not
becoming partial to any oneperson.
And then you have to be weary ofthe of the pitfall that is
performance idolatry.
(26:41):
What do I mean by that?
Well, I mean that that everybodyjust worships performance and
not the person.
And so we you have to you haveto tie your the the praise that
you're giving to character atleast 50% of the time.
At least not just performance,but character issues as well.
Don't make it all aboutperformance.
(27:03):
You know, Joel Olstein said thisif we're going to bring out the
best in people, we too need tosow seeds of encouragement.
Let me say it again.
If we're going to bring the bestout in people, we too need to
sow seeds of encouragement.
So when you begin to see thepower of encouragement, when you
begin encouraging others, you'llencourage yourself.
(27:27):
And then you'll begin to seethat encouragement is not merely
a nice gesture.
I say it's jet fuel for theengines that'll help your
business soar as God intended.
Father, I come to you right nowin the name of Jesus.
And Lord, I'm asking you tominister to every heart, Lord,
who's listened to this podcast.
(27:48):
Help them to see the power,Lord, of encouraging others.
Help them to apply these godlyprinciples, Lord, these biblical
principles, Lord.
Help them to apply them toencourage others and make their
organization have a culture anda uh, Lord, just a tremendous,
(28:09):
uh, tremendous environment,Lord, of encouragement.
And Lord, I thank you for thatand I praise you for it.
In the name of Jesus, amen andamen.
Well, thanks again for tuninginto this week's uh Christian
Business Concepts Podcast.
And uh again, be sure to sharethat with four or five other
(28:30):
people.
Put the link to this podcast ona post that you put on your
LinkedIn or your Facebook page.
We just really appreciate youhelping us to grow the CBC
family.
And uh we're so thankful thatyou're a part of that.
So looks like that's all thetime we have for this week.
So until next time, remember,Jesus is Lord and He wants you
(28:55):
blessed.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Thank you for tuning in to this week's Christian
Business Concept Podcast.
Go to Christian BusinessConcept.com for more information
and resources.
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