While notions of ‘positive’ and ‘supportive’ leadership might sound pretty straightforward today, they haven’t always been at the forefront of business. Thirty years ago, managers were tougher, firmer, and kept their distance from employees. They believed that, in order to make the big decisions — particularly when it came to hiring and firing — you needed to be detached.

Today, there are still many businesses where this is the case, but they are becoming a minority. Now, thanks to behavioural studies and comprehensive research on what makes workplaces tick, we know that a more nurturing approach is best. Positive reinforcement is very powerful and substantially more inspiring than criticism, censure, and penalties.

Keep reading to find out more about why a positive approach is the best way to motivate your employees and push them to achieve.

1. It Prevents Employees from Closing Down

Human beings have an automatic tendency to shut down when criticised. They listen less, are quicker to disregard advice, and become stubborn and defensive. As all good leadership training courses will tell you, this makes it very difficult to encourage employees to learn from their mistakes. If you focus solely on the negatives, without also providing positive, practical feedback, all they hear is that they’re not good enough, rather than the fact that you believe they can be better.

1. It Fosters Open and Honest Communication

People need to feel safe and valued before they’ll open up and share their opinions. We’re all secretly afraid of not as being clever, confident, or creative as our colleagues. So, volunteered ideas and thoughts should always be met with a positive response, even if they are not quite what you are looking for. The key to success in business is being able to raise concerns and discuss all kinds of matters with your team. If you want them to trust you with their voices, you have to be supportive.

1. It Energises and Motivates Employees

A positive attitude is infectious; it gets people smiling and helps them to feel energised and motivated. If your employees are happy at work, they’ll put more effort in and strive to achieve better results. While an appropriate degree of professionalism is, of course, important, there is no reason why you can’t chat, joke, and get to know the team on a personal level.

1. It Makes Problem Solving Easier

A negatively inclined manger is one who looks at problems like they’re insurmountable peaks. They emphasise how hard tasks are and how much effort is needed, without any mention of whether or not the team is capable. They don’t always trust their employees to succeed and this fosters distrust. On the other hand, a positive manager relishes a challenge. They expect great things, because they believe that their team can give them great results.

1. It Makes Employees Feel Valued

Many corporate studies have now deconstructed the presumption that workers only care about money. In fact, every year, lots of employees leave sizeable salaries so that they can move to workplaces with a more positive, supportive atmosphere. In other words, feeling valued is significantly more important to modern workers. They want praise when they perform well and they want to feel the benefit if they are part of projects and schemes that help the business tom excel; even if it’s just in the form of workplace celebrations and reward schemes.

Why Positive Leadership Trumps Negative Reinforcement Every Time

For many decades now, behavioural experts and psychologists have been stressing the value of positive reinforcement. Human beings learn faster if they are supported. This is the case in all situations, even when they have failed or made mistakes. So, if you want to be an exceptional manager and retain your place at the top of the market, you need to build up trust, commitment, and respect within your workplace.