Come on, you can do it.

Sometimes a little encouragement is all we need, so it's just as well it's the next component in a thinking environment.

In this case, it's all about giving courage to go to the unpopular or alternative ideas and let's face it - we all need a gentle nudge to go to those places sometimes.

Cast your mind back to the last time you were in a group of people and someone said something that you'd been thinking all along but didn't say it.  Imagine that you didn't say it because it was a bit extreme or the polar opposite to what you would do normally.  What would the impact have been if someone had given you some encouragement to speak out?  I'm guessing you'd have got in there sooner, that's what!

This one involves a bit of digging though, because I reckon what that encouragement looks like is going to be different depending on who you are.  It might be a pep talk before a meeting, someone throwing you a friendly smile and nod, or someone being really blunt with you telling you to get your point across no matter how left field it might be.  The digging needs to be two-fold though - finding out what you personally need as encouragement as well as what those around you need to gee them along. 

It can be really straight forward in the question that you ask yourself (or others), so here are some examples:
- what helps you get thoughts out?
- what gives you courage to speak out?
- what would make you feel comfortable to suggest something a bit different?

Getting these thoughts out will let your finest thinking come through, because holding onto thoughts in your head will only ever be a distraction.  If you need anymore encouragement to crack on with finding out what helps you, remember that situation when somebody said what you were thinking and they got praised for it (and maybe even a pay rise and promotion - extreme I know but I'm trying to drum up some emotion here!), were you kicking yourself?

So, what are you waiting for?  Have some reflection time now to work out what is going to help you and plan in when you're going to have the conversation with others to find out what encouragement they need. It's going to feel liberating, I promise!

Happy encouraging xx