So how do you encourage a team member that's hired or discouraged without sounding fake? This is leading 10. I'm Chris Moore. Let's face it. Sometimes your team, everyone just hits a wall. They've been pushing hard the wins, they feel like they're few and far between. They deadlines keep coming and morale. Yeah, it's just lower and lower. You want to lift their heads, you want to speak life into them, but here's the problem. You don't wanna come across as tone deaf or plastic. You probably heard it or said it before. Great job everyone. We're doing awesome. Meanwhile, someone just quit. Someone else is burned out. The numbers are sliding. Uh, we've got to make some corrections and we need to encourage. But how do we encourage, honestly, how do we speak hope that actually connects and uplifts. Let's look at what scripture says this time. We'll dive in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 40, verses 29 through 31. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might. He increases strength, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. Encouragement starts with pointing to the source. We don't offer hype. We offer hope. Grounded in truth. And there's Proverbs chapter 25 verse 11. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Not every word fits every moment, but the right word spoken at the right time has power. It can change thoughts and it can change lives. Many times it can change those lives for a lifetime. Finally, one Thessalonians chapter five, verse 11. Wherefore commit yourselves together and edify one another. Even as also ye do. Leaders build. When the world wears people down, we are called to lift them back up. It's a big calling, so how do we do it? Well, let's talk about four ways to encourage your team in a way that's also honest. It's timely, and it's Christ-like Step number one is we need to acknowledge the reality of the moment. Nothing kills encouragement faster than pretending everything's fine. When it's not, Hey, you're okay. Get back up and keep going. If the team is tired, say it. If it's been a tough quarter, own it. If morale is low, recognize it and say it. But you don't have to stay there. You can say this. Start with, I know things have been pretty heavy, pretty down, pretty bad. Lately. This season has stretched us more than we expected. Why? Because your honesty builds trust. People don't need a pep rally. They need a leader who sees them, hears them, and still believes in them. Step number two, speak directly to their effort, not just the outcome. Don't say, great job. When results go well, call out the work ethic, the attitude, the teamwork, and even if the final score wasn't a win, say this I saw how you stayed late to make that right. You kept your cool even when the client pushed back, and that really matters. I noticed how you encourage someone else, even when we're all under pressure, encouragement, rooted in your observations, not just the results at the end. Those things feel real. People see seen, they feel recognized, they feel understood. This leads us into step three. Remind them where strength really comes from. Isaiah says, God gives power to the faint. That means feeling weary isn't failure. It's a signal to look up. Let me say that again. Being weary is not the same as failure. Sometimes your team doesn't need a break room snack. They need a spiritual reset. And you can gently say it. Look, hey, I know you're running hard, but let's not forget where our strength comes from. We don't have to do this on our own. Let's take a minute to breathe and ask God to fill us up again. When you lead like that, you're not just building morale, you are pastoring hearts. Step four, speak life into the future without sugarcoating the present. Look, you don't have to pretend that everything's great and you shouldn't when it's not. But you can still speak faith, not fear into people in their lives. Try something like this. You know, this season has tested us, but I believe it's also growing us, or we're gonna look back at this stretch and realize how much we learned. I still believe in this mission and I believe in you. That's not fluff, that's faith filled leadership. And look, if you don't have the people you believe in, that's another leadership issue for another day, another devotion. But if you hired these people and you did what God intended you to do, you do believe in them. And together you can get through whatever is currently going on in your business. And that's not fluff. People can handle reality if it is wrapped in hope. So let's touch on two common pitfalls that we need to avoid. The first is the genetic cliche encouragement. Great job. Everyone means almost nothing. If it's not specific, people need to know. So what did we do well? Why did it matter? How did it impact the team as a whole? I. Encouragement gets sticky. When it gets lazy. Make it personal and be precise. Recognize what you see. Trap number two is waiting too long. Don't hold encouragement until the performance reviews. Don't wait six months later or at the end of the year. Uh, making those notes. Do it right, then. Do it publicly. If someone is struggling or sprinting, they need to hear from you now, not later. You know, encouragement is most powerful when it happens in the moment. If you see something good, say something good. When you step in for just a moment, say a few key words and step away, it costs you nothing. But it can mean everything to that individual and their future, their future performance, their future thoughts about themselves are made in that moment. So is there someone right now on your team who's discouraged and needs to hear something specific from you? If so, this week, send a voice memo, a text or handwritten note to one person on your team and let them know that you see their effort, that you valued their presence, and if possible. Don't just go around the room and recognize everybody, but make sure you do something publicly. Walk up to them in a lunchroom or, or in a, in a standup meeting, and as you walk by, just say something in front of their peers. Let them know that you value them and that you're with them. Be specific, be sincere. Grow your culture. Encouragement isn't about hype. It's about honoring the heart of God who sees the weary and give strength. And we should be able to do the same. You can be that same voice, that presence, that leader who doesn't just demand excellence, but lifts the load when others are tired. This is Lead in 10. I'm Chris Moore. This represents the 65th episode of Lead in 10. We've covered a lot of topics, we've done many things., What's interesting to me is how much through these that I knew it would happen. But still, you look back and you see the key times when a certain devotion, a certain topic, a certain question that I had written down weeks before suddenly came to where it was so timely where it was speaking to me. I think that's why I felt the need, the calling to do this podcast. I said it from the beginning that this podcast wasn't about trying to reach people. It's about trying to reach me, but I think there's a lesson in that as well. When we do things inside, when we connect ourselves to God, we begin to see that connection happen for others. So I hope this episode encouraged you. I hope this podcast series has encouraged you. Would you share it with someone else? Not for me, but for the value believe God has given through this. Just a thought process, an ability to step back and look at how we are doing our daily life. Our daily leadership and how much more it means than we can do it, as Christ intended us to it. I'll see you next time.