The Art of Encouragement

Chapter 3The Art of Character Encouragement

Fast-forward about five years. My own personal journey in self-development following the end of my career had grown—as these things so often do—into an opportunity to help others with the same. During my valley season, I basically received a PhD through the school of hard knocks in emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and decision making, amongst other skills, and this learning experience actually gave me a platform to coach and teach. I found myself thriving as a performance coach, helping leaders with personal development in the soft skills, enabling them to become more effective in their leadership journey, better communicators, more aware, and more socially intelligent. I engaged in public speaking, sharing my story, in hopes of helping others learn from my mistakes.

One thing I have learned in my coaching career is the importance of recognizing someone for their character—their innate attributes, moral qualities, principles, and personality traits that make them the unique being that they are. A person's character is essentially their essence—it's what makes them, them! While character is completely unique to each person, their skillset—the collection of capabilities and proficiencies that they can gain through training—is something that anybody can possess, and it inherently feels less special when they are recognized for it. When you praise and encourage a person in their character, you are making them feel like they are ...