The coauthors of a just-published book, Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World, published an article in Harvard Business Review magazine that discussed research showing that praise and criticism of what workers do doesn't work and doesn't help employees thrive. Instead they say when managers see a great outcome, they should praise it and share their impression of why it was a success. They explain that neuroscience shows that we grow most when people focus on our strengths.
They say the right way to help workers excel is to use some of these language examples: