The 10-Second Habit That Makes People Want to Work With You Again

Here's a hot take: most "encouragement" people give is actually just noise — and people can tell.

"Great job team!" "You're amazing!" "Keep it up!" — these cost nothing to say, so they carry no weight. If you want people to actually trust your praise (and keep showing up for you), it needs to pass one test:

Could this sentence only be said about THIS person, for THIS specific thing they did?

If someone else could swap in and the compliment still works word-for-word, it's generic — and generic praise gets ignored.

Try this instead

Next time you're about to say "good job," pause for 10 seconds and add one specific detail:

• ❌ "Great presentation!"

• ✅ "The way you paused before the Q&A section gave people time to actually think of good questions — that's a subtle move a lot of people miss."

• ❌ "You're doing great, keep going!"

• ✅ "You've shown up every single day this week even though the results haven't clicked yet. That consistency is the actual hard part."

Why this matters more than people think

Specific praise does two things generic praise can't:

1. It tells the person exactly what to keep doing (vague praise gives them nothing to repeat).

2. It proves you were actually paying attention — which is what makes praise feel real instead of performative.

Next time you're about to hand out a compliment on autopilot, add the ten seconds. It's a small habit that quietly makes you someone people want to keep working with.