1.+Encouraging+the+Heart-Philosophy

** Encouraging the Heart: an Overview **
==// “Courage. Encourage. Two words, same origin. Heart. You gotta have heart. Miles and miles and miles of it. There’s no bravery or boldness without heart. There’s no spirit or support without heart. There’s no sacrifice or soul without heart. Nothing great ever gets done without heart. You gotta have heart.” //==

== Encourage the Heart is the fifth practice of the five practices contained in __The Leadership Challenge__ by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. Our group chose to concentrate on this final section, found in their book __Encouraging the Heart__ and study the seven essentials of leadership that fall under this practice. The overall message of this book is that to fully express themselves, leaders must love what they do, and truly care about the people who they are working with. Once a person has fully developed a belief in themselves and a vision for what they want to do, the leadership skills to bring the organization along with them can be achieved by following the seven essentials. == == “**//Set clear standards”//** is the first of these essentials. People need to know what is expected and valued. Recognition when these expectations are met reminds individuals and the entire group of those values. ==

**//“Personalize recognition”//** is an important way to communicate the sincerity of the leader’s gratitude. Otherwise, the award or recognition can seem meaningless.
== **//“Tell the story”//** addresses how a leader communicates both their vision, and how they recognize someone’s contributions. Storytelling builds powerful and memorable visual and auditory images that the listeners connect with on an emotional level. == == **//“Celebrate together”//** involves creating a community in which everyone is “encouraging the heart.” Just as a leader should be friends with their workers, workers who are friends, encourage and support each other. == == **//“Set the example,”//** shows that you wouldn’t ask people to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself, combined with modeling exactly what you want them to do. This builds mutual respect and encourages the community to respect and model their best for each other. ==