What is quality support? How do you learn the most effective way to support others?

As CEO of Awesome Journey, Eric Crowell supports a team and has worked with thousands of business leaders to support leadership development. Understanding how to effectively support and empower people is critical to leadership development.

Throughout Eric’s career, he has learned that everyone has different ways in which they want to be supported. The way in which you offer support is just as critical as the support you are offering. Have you ever thought you were supporting someone but ended up angering or irritating them?

For example, a colleague has an important presentation to the board in a week, you offer your support by way of challenging them about the approach they are taking to deliver it and they get defensive = BREAKDOWN! What happened? You thought you were offering support to your colleague by providing insights and options to enhance their presentation and make them look great in front of the board, but your colleague perceived your support as threatening to their skills and competence. It is important to consider the way you approach supporting others to ensure it is well received.

Before offering support, you need to listen to people and make clear requests about how they would like to be supported.

9 Ways to Support Others:

1. Listen to others without judgment
2. Give your time
3. Give quality feedback
4. Offer to do tasks or projects
5. Hold another person accountable for a promise they made
6. Challenge another person or make an unreasonable request of them
7. Teach
8. Empower
9. Care – be in service to them

By having a clear understanding of how to best support others, you can let go of expectations, and make clear requests to each other so, the support that you give is welcomed, accepted, and improves performance.

Insight:

Expectations Create Breakdowns!

What is the difference between an expectation and a request?

• Expectation – you are hoping or anticipating something to happen with another person
• Clear Request – you are directly asking for something to happen with another person

Let go of expectations, and make clear requests about how you can support other people in being successful!

Leadership Challenge:

Be a quality leader this week to a colleague or family member by asking them how you could support them in being successful. Then support them and see the quality result that you create together.