I was a young manager when my boss, Marc, called me in to his office. Oh boy. I was sweating. What did I do wrong? Was I in trouble? I sat there, tense and nervous. And then, it happened: Much to my surprise, I wasn't in trouble at all. Instead of pointing out my recent mistakes (of which there were many), Marc told me exactly what I had been doing right--and encouraged me to keep up the good work. Wow. Marc wasn't a boss who was eager to point out every single thing I got wrong; he was a coach, a mentor. Someone who focused on the good, saw my potential, and wanted me to succeed. I learned a lot from Marc about how to give emotionally intelligent feedback: namely, that commendation needs two things to be effective. First, it's got to be sincere. And second, it has to be specific. There's a body of research that supports what I learned from Marc all those years ago. (Read more in today's column.) #EmotionalIntelligence #leadership #management #BestAdvice #PersonalDevelopment #BusinessIntelligence #careers #GrowthMindset #EQApplied #MakeEmotionsWorkForYouNotAgainstYou …see more