Christopher Farmer, who is cited in the post, conducted interviews with various professionals and received feedback on the type of compliment that engenders drive, respect, and satisfaction. He concludes:

- Become the type of person whose applause is likely to be valued.
- Give specific praise, not general.
- Make your praise sincere. Don’t fake it.
- Separate praise from reprimands
- Separate praise from delegation

Farmer’s findings correspond very closely to my own experience. Praise always means more when it is sincere, specific (not canned), given for its own sake, and comes from someone whom I respect. My main defect regarding compliments is that perhaps I don’t praise my colleagues as much as I should. When I pass out kudos, however, team members tend to know it’s sincere and on target. Comments on your experience?