01
Direct
A specific, personal acknowledgment (in person, a note, a message)
People and ideas grow where they’re watered.
A companion guide to the 2026 IHAF Conference opening keynote by Neisha Tweed Bell.
When a plant is struggling, you don't blame the plant. You check the light, the water, and the soil. The same thinking applies to your team.
Three Things Every Team Needs to Grow
Give More Sunlight
Are your people being seen, celebrated, and invited to shine?
Diagnose It
Looking at the last six months, what would you say for your team.
Your teamRarelySometimesOften
Strong work gets acknowledged within a week
Visibility is distributed across the team evenly, not concentrated on a few people
Recognition happens for effort and initiative, not just finished results
Your 1:1s include career development along with project updates and logistics
People volunteer for stretch assignments and new challenges
If you're checking 'Rarely' more than twice, your team needs more sunlight.
Three Actions to Take
This week: Ask each team member how they want to be celebrated
Not everyone wants a shoutout in the all-hands. Some people want a quiet word after a meeting. Some want written feedback they can save. Some want to be named in the client presentation. The only way to know is to ask.
Try this: “I want to make sure I'm recognizing your work in a way that actually feels good to you. Some people like public shoutouts, others prefer a direct message or a written note. What works best for you?”
Four Ways to Recognize People
02
Financial
Bonuses, raises, or equivalent value when you have the authority
03
Public
In front of the team, the org, or externally (conference shoutouts, case study credits)
04
Access
Time, opportunities, stretch projects, client-facing roles
This month: Share the stage
Pick one person on your team who's done strong work recently. Invite them to present it to the client, the leadership team, or the all-hands. Visibility builds confidence and credibility, and it signals to the whole team that good work gets celebrated.
Try this: “The work you did on [project] was strong. I'd like you to present it to [audience]. I'll set it up and make sure you have what you need. You earned this room.”
This quarter: Map your recognition patterns
For one month, track who you recognize and how. At the end of the month, look at the list. Who shows up the most? Who's missing? Are you recognizing effort, outcomes, initiative, or only finished work?
The G.I.V.E. Model for Giving Praise
G
Genuine
Be specific about what they did well. "Great job" is a reflex, not recognition. "The way you restructured the client deck to lead with their business problem instead of our capabilities changed the whole conversation" is recognition.
I
Immediate
While the moment is still fresh. A compliment three months later in a performance review is documentation, not celebration.
V
Valued
In a way that feels meaningful to them (this is why you ask).
E
Equal opportunity
Everyone on the team has a chance to be seen and celebrated, not just the loudest or most visible.
Pour More Water
Are they getting regular, useful feedback that helps them grow, feel supported, and stay aligned?
Diagnose It
Looking at the last six months, what would you say for your team.
Your teamRarelySometimesOften
You give feedback outside of formal review cycles
People on your team are rarely surprised by the feedback they receive
There are no challenging conversations that you've been avoiding having
Someone on your team has asked you for feedback in the last month
You can name each person's growth goal for this quarter
If 'Rarely' is showing up more than twice, your team is thirsty.
Three Actions to Take
This week: Start micro-feedback
A 30-second observation in the moment is worth more than a paragraph three months later. The format is simple: what you noticed + what it did.
For bigger moments, try SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact). A structure for giving feedback that's specific and fair:
The SBI Model for Giving Feedback
S
Situation
When and where it happened. "In yesterday's client review..."
B
Behavior
What you observed, without judgment. "...you jumped in before Keya finished her point twice."
I
Impact
The effect it had. "It made it hard for her to land her recommendation, and I think the client missed context they needed."
This works for praise too: 'In the pitch rehearsal (Situation), you restructured the opening to start with the client's problem instead of our credentials (Behavior). It completely changed the energy in the room and the client leaned in from the first slide (Impact).'
The SBI model was developed by the Center for Creative Leadership.
This month: Ask for feedback on yourself
In your next 1:1: 'What's one small thing I could do differently to help you work more effectively?'
If they can't answer you, that's an answer in and of itself.
And when you get that feedback:
- Say thank you. (Do not try to explain yourself.)
- Listen without interrupting.
- Ask one clarifying question. (Do not try to explain yourself.)
- Reflect before reacting.
- Follow up on it within a week.
This quarter: Build a growth plan together
Sit down with each person and help them outline what they want to learn, where they want to stretch, and what support they need from you. Revisit the plan quarterly.
- What are you best at right now?
- What do you want to get better at?
- Where do you want to stretch (new skills, new visibility, new responsibilities)?
- What do you need from me to get there?
- How will we know it's working?
Tend to the Soil
Are you creating the conditions where growth, risk-taking, and self-expression feel possible?
Diagnose It
Looking at the last six months, what would you say for your team.
Your teamRarelySometimesOften
Your team pitches unconventional ideas without being asked
Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities, not liabilities
The team can articulate what you're all working toward
Progress gets rewarded, not just conformity
People bring their full selves to work, not a safer, smaller version
More than two 'Rarely' answers means your soil needs attention.
Three Actions to Take
This week: Run a debrief on a recent project that didn't get one
Pick a project that wrapped in the last month and never got a proper look-back. Gather the team and ask three questions: What worked? What didn't? What would we do differently? The act of doing it signals that reflection is valued here, not just output. And it gives your team a safe, structured space to be honest about what happened.
This month: Create conditions for creative courage
Give your team structured permission to take risks. The logic is similar to 'making time to be spontaneous': making the mandate and setting the goal increases the likelihood of it happening.
Four Ways to Build Creative Courage
- Experiment: Run a test to see what works. Low stakes, clear learning goal.
- Explore: Include one wildcard idea in the next round. Just to see.
- Imagine: Give an open brief and ask what they'd do with no constraints.
- Fail: Ask for a plan, not proof. Follow up with lessons, not lectures.
The best teams self-report 10x more errors than average teams. Not because they make more mistakes, but because they feel safe enough to name them.
This quarter: Articulate your North Star
If your team can't finish the sentence 'We're here to ___,' they don't have a North Star. And without one, people default to playing it safe.
Build it together.
This is not a statement you write alone and hand down. Sit with your team and work through these four questions:
- Who are we here to serve?
- What do we do better than anyone else in this organization?
- What does success look like in six months?
- What do we stand for (and what do we refuse to accept)?
The North Star that comes out of this should be one sentence your team can say from memory. If it takes a paragraph to explain, it's not a North Star yet.
Make it visible.
A North Star that lives in a strategy deck nobody opens is not a North Star. Once your team has it, make it real:
- Run an internal poster competition. Every person or small team creates a visual version of the North Star. Put the winner somewhere the team sees it every day.
- Use it as a filter. Before the next brief goes out, ask: does this align with our North Star? If not, why are we doing it?
Annual goal: Enter your best work.
Most award programs (the Addys, for instance) have a self-promotion category for agencies. For in-house teams, curating and entering your own work is both a creative exercise and a way to pressure-test whether the work you're making actually reflects what you say you stand for.
You Don't Have to Be the Boss to Change the Environment
This section is for the people who don't manage a team but still feel the effects of the environment they work in. You can't control what your manager does, but you can change how you show up.
Give Yourself Sunlight
Track your own wins. Keep a running doc of strong work, good feedback, problems you solved. No one will remember your work better than you. Update it every Friday.
Ask for visibility. "I'd love to present this to the client" is not presumptuous. It's professional. If you've done the work, you've earned the room.
Celebrate your peers. Giving recognition builds the culture you want to work in, even before you're in charge of it. A message to a teammate saying "the way you handled that was really smart" costs nothing and changes the energy.
Build Your Plan
Sunlight
Recognition & Visibility
Water
Feedback & Support
Soil
Environment & Culture
“The teams that make the bravest work aren’t smarter or more talented. They’re just in better environments.”
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