Over the last 20 years, I have had the chance to be in contact with many people. I have managed hundreds of employees, with a peak of 50 at one time, hundreds of startup leaders through my previous activities as a business angel and now as a late-stage investor, while taking care of my family and helping some friends.
Meeting many people is an extremely enriching experience. It allows you to observe and learn. Drawing lessons from what happens around you is essential to evolve. The goal is clearly not to lecture others, but rather to try to strengthen, transform and improve oneself.
Over time, I discovered that there is an astonishing energy that can make the world better, an energy that requires no funding, no drilling, no nuclear fusion.
This energy is called encouragement.
Being encouraged by those around you, by your boss, your partners, your investors or your spouse allows any person to multiply their strength and transcend themselves. He knows he is not alone, he knows he is supported, he knows that whatever the results, someone will be there for him.
He knows he must give his best because he does not want to disappoint those who trusted him.
I have seen too much damage around me because of this wasted and destroyed energy. Yes, as easy as it is to generate such energy, it is even easier to destroy it.
Corporate suicides are certainly due in part to this lack of encouragement. When reading the testimonies of several employees, one realizes that lack of recognition and not being considered are aggravating reasons for this suffering.
Recently I have seen similar waste around me: two founders of a company close to me fighting against another motivated founder in order to take his responsibilities away from him. That founder was later completely stripped of responsibility, demoralized, and the company I am speaking about headed toward failure.
I have seen couples collapse because of the lack of encouragement and recognition from a husband toward his wife, or from a wife toward her husband.
I have seen teenagers disgusted with life because of a lack of encouragement from their parents.
And on the other hand, I have seen entrepreneurs surpass themselves thanks to the encouragement of those around them, their customers and their investors.
I have seen children become brilliant thanks to the encouragement of their parents, even when everything suggested they would struggle to escape a difficult school situation.
I have seen partners support one another and build fabulous companies.
I have seen employees work even harder than if they were shareholders of the company thanks to repeated and permanent encouragement from their boss.
I have seen wives and husbands happy to live thanks to the encouragement of their spouse.
I have seen depressed people regain their smile and the will to conquer the world.
Encouraging costs nothing except time and attention to the other person.
Adding a positive smiley in an email to a collaborator, answering positively, showing him that his life matters as much as mine: all this is very easy.
The more encouragement is repeated, the more motivating the energy released becomes. And as I told you, it is the best energy, for the other person and for oneself.
Do not think what I am saying is simplistic. As surprising as it may seem, it took me years to discover this energy. It is often when you see situations where it is missing that you understand how indispensable it is.
This post was first published in 2011 on my blog. It remains largely relevant, and I thought it was time to share it again.