Appreciative leadership is completely up to date. Modern employees no longer have a 'boss', but an employer. In other words: an organisation that not only provides the monthly allowance for all efforts, which is also called “salary”. An employer who also facilitates, gives them space and appreciates who they are.

But it may be that, as an employer, you look around a bit awkward. What exactly is expected of you, as an appreciative manager? We are happy to give you a sneak peek, and, of course, we'll also give you some useful tips right away.

1. Curiosity prevails over authority

The international name of the basis of appreciative leadership is'appreciative inquiry'. If you let these two words sink in, you'll immediately have an important part of appreciative leadership.

After all, a truly appreciative leader would rather delay his judgment for a while, but will first investigate sincerely with curiosity.

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

Next comes the most important phase: listening carefully.

Really hear what someone says. Everyone's input is weighed on a gold scale and contributes to a joint conclusion.

2. Get someone to do more of what they're good at

Every person has them: talents that get some jobs done with a fantastic result. This often even goes almost unnoticed and obvious for someone, because the task is entirely in line with a personal passion or motive. As a colleague or manager, you look at it with your mouth open and think 'how does he do that anyway? '.

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

‍Stimulate job satisfaction, but also give output a qualitative boost. The great thing is that the toolkit that someone is blessed with varies from individual to individual. Have development interviews so you can discover someone's talent and what makes them happy. And above all: how to make sure that person can do more of what makes them happy.

Once you have identified all personal talents and motives, it provides valuable insights. For example, which project is best placed with which employee, but also which personality can best fill a vacancy with.

3. Together, you will move forward

Appreciative leadership encourages optimal cooperation between individuals and between departments. It is a nice sequel to our previous point, and it actually sounds logical: combining all the individual talents creates a more powerful result than if all those talents were left on their own island. However, it is not so obvious.

Being able to make such a strong connection requires a lot of energy and management qualities. Each organisation consists of a wide range of personalities and specialties. Sometimes finding that mutual click can be quite a quest. One colleague has a different view on life, the other doesn't have their nose on the same page or speaks a different (professional) language, so irritations and misunderstandings are lurking.

It was up to the manager to bridge the gap after all. By creating a common culture, finding a common goal, motivating people and eliciting greater appreciation for the colleague's unique talent. Yes, making such a connection is often hard work for a manager. It sometimes takes time for the machine to run properly. But the sweeter the win 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 there is among your employees. Does the wish (still) match the organisation's objective, or does the end goal lie outside the company's borders?

Another question is: how do you provide an employee's talents with the right breeding ground? How does he want and can learn? What are the personal ambitions really?

It is possible that someone's phase of life is not entirely in line with their growth opportunities. Family expansion, informal care or just a little less energy: it's part of life.

Sometimes it is a matter of patience to be able to continue in a somewhat longer period of time.

Have a transparent conversation with each other to see where the wishes and ambitions lie. But especially to see what is already possible at the moment, and to make positive use of it.

5. Create a clear target, including various walking routes

It is not the case that appreciative leadership has no limits. Just not. You don't have to change with every wind and show infinite understanding for employees. Appreciative leadership isn't floaty. The organisation and its employees mainly benefit from clarity.

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

• What quality should an end product or service definitely meet?
• What is the minimum amount of production required for the company to smoke?
• What do you expect from an employee, and what can the employee expect from the organisation?

Discuss it and put it in black and white. This type of information is insightful and provides guidance.

The difference in appreciative leadership is that the employee gets a lot of personal control over how the end goal is achieved. By offering this freedom, the employee can choose the walking route that best suits individual talent, personality or phase of life.

Online Appreciative Leadership

In various ways, an online platform can be very supportive in rolling out and maintaining appreciative leadership. When carrying out driver analyses, but also for recording and monitoring personal development plans.

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

Want to know more about this? We have a lot of ideas about that. So don't hesitate to contact us!