Don’t Be Afraid of Praise

A quick guide to motivate your people with the right amount of positive feedback.

Matt Hunter • December 16, 2025

If you’re a reader of The Unlock, you know we talk a lot about feedback: how to give it, why it matters, and why it’s one of the most powerful tools a leader has.

And we’re not just talking about constructive feedback. We’re also talking about praise.

Surprisingly, many leaders I work with struggle more with positive feedback than criticism. They fear that if they hand it out too freely, their team will get complacent: If I praise my people too much, they’ll stop working hard.

It’s a common, and flawed, belief. Praise, when done right, doesn’t make people lazy. It energizes them, builds trust, and reinforces the behaviors you want to see more of. The real challenge is finding the right dosage—the optimal balance between affirmation and constructive feedback.

Achieving this balance is an ongoing practice. It’s the dance between care and challenge, trust and control. Slather on too much praise without the counterforce of constructive criticism, and people get too comfortable. Complacency sets in. Bring too much criticism without acknowledgment, on the other hand, and people feel unappreciated. They lose steam and burn out.

Finding the right balance requires intuition, empathy, and the willingness to adjust based on each person and situation. Get it right, and you’ll create teams that feel seen and appreciated but are still driven to improve.

The key to effective praise isn’t just giving it—it’s being specific. Generic compliments like “Great job” or “Well done” can be counterproductive. Specific praise, on the other hand, highlights the exact behavior you want to reinforce and shows that you’re paying attention. It makes people feel seen. Gallup data shows that meaningful positive feedback (key word: meaningful) boosts employee engagement and performance, and helps foster a growth culture within organizations.

How do you make sure it’s meaningful? Keep it focused. Instead of saying “Nice presentation,” say, “Your presentation was clear and compelling, especially the way you broke down the data for the team—it made a complex topic easy to understand.” This kind of feedback tells the person what they did well and why it mattered, reinforcing the right behaviors.

Here’s an example of how to praise well, using Nonviolent Communication inspired building blocks of Observations, expressing Feeling & Need, Impact, and Requests.

Scenario: A team member delivered an outstanding presentation.

Leader: "I want to highlight how well you presented in today’s meeting (Observation). I felt energized and grateful because I value clarity, and your slides were so clear. You explained complex data in a way that was easy for everyone to understand (Feeling & Need). It really helped the team feel confident moving forward with the project (Impact). I appreciate the thought and care you put into making that presentation accessible to everyone."

Scenario: A team member solved a problem independently before it escalated.

Leader: "I noticed how you took the initiative to fix the client reporting issue before it became a bigger problem (Observation). I felt both reassured and proud because I value proactive problem-solving, and it showed a lot of foresight (Feeling & Need). It prevented what could have been a messy situation and kept things running smoothly (Impact). That kind of ownership makes a huge difference on the team. Keep it up (Request)."

Scenario: A team member stepped in to help a struggling colleague.

Leader: "I saw that you offered to help Nick when he was behind on his workload this week (Observation). I’m grateful because I value collaboration and team support (Feeling & Need). Your help made sure we hit our deadline, and it also strengthened the sense of trust within the team (Impact). It’s that kind of care and teamwork that really makes a difference."