Do You Know How Much Praise Your Team Really Needs?

High-performing teams are built on more than just skills, they're grounded in trust, connection, and feedback. Yes, feedback. The thing that so many of us shy away from but which is foundational in creating a productive, focused and happy team.

In relational leadership, feedback becomes more than a transactional task, it creates psychological safety, deepens mutual respect, and encourages continuous learning. When delivered with care, clarity, and purpose, it challenges people to improve without damaging morale. To deliver effective feedback, whether it's praise or an opportunity to develop, we love using the COIN model.

Context: When and where did it happen?
Observation: What exactly did you see or hear?
Impact: How did it impact you, the team, or the outcome?
Next steps: What should continue or change?

When we walk about "feedback" people tend to assume the worst and that's often because we forget that humans needs significantly more praise than criticism. In fact, relationship experts John and Julie Gottman, suggest that we should aim for at least five positive pieces of feedback to every negative piece of feedback.

Praise when genuine, timely and specific reinforces strengths and builds confidence. At Lea_p, something we regularly observe in our workshops is just how impactful acknowledging one another can be. The energy shift when teams share praise is powerful and the feedback we recieve is often that it's one of the most meaningful and unexpected parts of the workshop. Balancing praise and constructive criticism through relational leadership creates a feedback culture that's not just about performance - it's about connection, growth, and trust.

Try This: Practice using COIN for both praise and challenge in your next 1:1 and notice the difference in how your feedback lands. Let us know how you go!