Lately, there have been many books and commentaries on the advantage of empathy in leadership and the workplace.

I would argue that beyond empathy, bringing humanity - our whole selves - to work is necessary.

In either case - this will take a lot of practice and cultural change after centuries of top-down, aggressive work culture.

In the short term, though, it’s important to remember the power of positivity and praise in day-to-day leadership.

There will always be the next challenge and concern for you and your team to tackle. It’s easy - as a leader with more context or tactical distance - to fast-forward every conversation to aspects of the work that need fixing or changing.

However, I’ve personally witnessed the profound effects that regularly pausing to celebrate hard work, clever insight, and productivity breakthroughs can have on individuals and teams.

Given my job, I have small windows to engage with my startups and deliver massive value. Value can often mean focusing on what’s broken.

Even so, I try (often unsuccessfully) to first start a review with what’s working great and to ensure that hard work is acknowledged.

I recommit myself to doing this even more and more consistently.

I encourage you to do the same.