Appreciative leadership in practice

Appreciative leadership is completely of this time. Modern employees no longer have a ‘boss’, but an employer. In other words: an organization that doesn’t just provide the monthly compensation for all their efforts, also known as a “salary.” An employer that also supports them, gives them room, and appreciates them for who they are. 

But as an employer, you may still look around a bit uneasily. What exactly is expected of you as an appreciative manager? We’re happy to lift a corner of the veil, and of course we’ll give you some handy tips right away. 

1. Curiosity beats authority

The international name for the foundation of appreciative leadership is “appreciative inquiry”. If you really let these two words sink in, you’ve already grasped an important part of appreciative leadership. 

A truly appreciative leader prefers to postpone judgment for a while and first sets out to investigate with genuine curiosity.

The manager asks employees about their vision, their feelings, and their wishes.

Then comes the most important phase: listening well.

Truly hearing what someone says. Everyone’s input is weighed carefully and contributes to a shared conclusion. 

2. Let people do more of what they’re good at

Everyone has them: talents that get certain jobs done with a fantastic result. Often this goes almost unnoticed and seems self-evident to the person, because the task fits perfectly with a personal passion or drive. As a colleague or manager, you watch with your mouth open and think, “How does he do that?”. 

As an appreciative manager, you can make use of that.

‍Boost job satisfaction, but also give the quality of output a boost. The nice thing is that the toolkit each person is blessed with differs from individual to individual. Hold development conversations so you discover what someone’s talent is and what makes them happy. And above all: how you can make sure that person can do more of what makes them happy. 

Once you have mapped out all personal talents and drivers, it gives you valuable insights. For example, which project is best assigned to which employee, but also which personality is best suited to fill a vacancy.

3. Together you go further

Appreciative leadership encourages optimal collaboration between individuals and between departments. It is a nice follow-up to our previous point, and it actually sounds logical: by bundling all individual talents, you get a more powerful result than if all those talents stayed on their own little islands. Yet it isn’t that self-evident.

Being able to build such a solid connection takes a lot of energy and management skills. Every organization is made up of a wide range of personalities and specialties. Sometimes finding the mutual click can be quite a quest. One colleague sees life differently, another doesn’t quite pull in the same direction or speaks a different (professional) language, so irritations and misunderstandings lie in wait.

It is up to the manager to build the bridge anyway. By creating a shared culture, finding a common goal, motivating people, and eliciting more appreciation for a colleague’s unique talent. Yes, making that kind of connection is often hard work for a manager. It sometimes takes time before the machine runs well-oiled. But all the sweeter the victory tastes.

4. What is possible?

Appreciative leadership assumes that everyone has potential. With that as a starting point, it is good to know what growth potential your employees have. Does the wish (still) match the organization’s goals, or does the end goal lie outside the company’s boundaries? 

Another question is: how do you provide the right breeding ground for an employee’s talents? How do they want to learn, and how can they? What are their personal ambitions, actually? 

It may be that someone’s stage of life doesn’t quite line up with the opportunities for advancement. A growing family, caring for a relative, or just a bit less energy: it’s part of life.

Sometimes it is just a matter of patience, so that they can still move up in the longer term.

Have a transparent conversation with each other to see where wishes and ambitions lie. But above all, to look at what is already possible right now, and to make use of that in a positive way. 

5. Create a clear target, including several walking routes

It’s not the case that appreciative leadership knows no boundaries. Quite the opposite. You don’t have to bend with every wind and show endless understanding for employees. Appreciative leadership is not woolly. Both the organization and its employees benefit most from clarity. 

It is important to set clear frameworks. You may say what is expected of an employee, as long as this is done respectfully and thoughtfully.

• What quality must an end product or service absolutely meet?
• How much production does the company need at minimum to keep the business running?
• What do you expect of an employee, and what can the employee expect of the organization?

Discuss it and put it in writing. That kind of information is clarifying and provides something to hold on to.

The difference with appreciative leadership is that the employee gets a lot of ownership over how the end goal is reached. By offering this freedom, the employee can choose the walking route that best fits individual talent, personality, or stage of life. 

Online appreciative leadership

An online platform can be very supportive in various ways when rolling out and sustaining appreciative leadership. When carrying out motivation analyses, but also for recording and following up on personal development plans.

Making management information accessible, but also setting up a project environment or a chat box for colleagues to use among themselves. The possibilities are endless!

Want to know more about this? We have plenty of ideas. So feel free to contact us!