The Secret To Impactful Compliments

5 Better Ways To Say “Great Job”

For a powerful compliment, show the positive impact of what they did on yourself and others, measurable performance, an aspect of their personality, a positive behavior, or a useful process used.

Compliments have the power to connect, build trust, motivate, change behaviors, and teach.

If you are the kind of person who says “well done” or “great job,” congrats for being the kind of person who spreads positivity and demonstrates good leadership qualities!

However, there are better ways to give impactful compliments and positive feedback.

The problem with “great job” and “well done”

The problem is that “great job” and “well done” are vague, express judgement, and are de-personalized.

“Great job” and “well done” also have major limitations in reach: some people don’t believe or accept that type of compliment, it is not appropriate with higher authority, and it limits the number of compliments you can give.

The secret to giving great positive feedback is to be more specific and personalize it. Here are 5 ways you can be more specific with your compliments.

Impact compliments

One of the most powerful ways to express positive feedback is to acknowledge the positive impact of the other person on your life and on others, because it taps in to their sense of purpose.

According to positive psychology, purpose and meaning are the ultimate source of happiness and personal fulfillment.

If you are a manager, this is also a fantastic opportunity to reinforce the vision for the department or company.

Here are some examples of impact compliments:

“Your leadership in this project allowed me to focus on recruitment which I really needed to do. Thanks for that.”

“Your research on this procedure will save many lives!”

Performance compliments

If someone performed well with measurable outputs, the performance-based compliment is great way to acknowledge it. Share the actual result or how the person compares to others.

Here are some examples of performance compliments:

“Well done for exceeding your sales targets this month.”

“You are the only person to hit the cost savings for the year.”

Personality compliments

When you appreciate an aspect of someone’s personality, you can highlight it in a compliment and explain why you like it. This is also a powerful compliment if the compliment receiver also likes that aspect of their own personality.

In the personality compliment you could mention values, character, and principles.

Here are some examples of personality compliments:

“You are very strategic in your thinking about problems.”

“Your feedback is always very specific and helpful.”

Behavior compliments

If your goal is to reinforce positive behavior, you can compliment someone’s behavior. This includes attitude, effort, improvement, and ethics.

Here are some examples of behavioral compliments:

“I loved how you supported your teammates throughout the project.”

“I appreciate all the extra hours you put into this.”

Process compliments

You can also compliment the process someone used, the way they went about solving a problem or doing their job.

Here are some examples of process compliments:

“You were very diligent in keeping track of our meetings and decisions.”

“Thanks for inspiring the team with interesting articles you find.”

For even more powerful compliments, make it specific, follow up with a gratitude or appreciation, and use more than one of those categories in a single positive feedback.

Compliments are a powerful tool for positive and meaningful relationships, if used in the right way. Spend the extra few minutes to think of a thoughtful compliment on impact, performance, personality, behavior, or process.

Want to learn more?

To learn more about the difference between praise and positive feedback, visit this blog post here.

Compliments are not the only way to show you care about others. If you want to be a better leader, here are 15 ways of showing your care about your team members.

When you share positivity through compliments with others, you also feel happier and more joyful. Here are 24 practical ways to create more joy at work.