Catch People Doing It Right
“People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise, and rewards.”
Dale Carnegie
The Problem Nobody Talks About
A supervisor I worked for told me she never recognized her team because “doing the job well is just the expectation.” Six months later, the team had the highest turnover in the organization. She was not a bad person or leader. In fact, she was trying very hard to do a good job. She was running the same basic and developing operating systems most use when we step into leadership: notice what’s broken, fix it, move on. Nobody taught her that recognition is not a reward for exceeding expectations. It is how you condition your team to see what excellence looks like.
I Have Been There
I spent my formative years in leadership positions in very high-standard military units. Everyone operated at a level above expectations daily. I was raised to see praise as something you reserved for the incredibly extraordinary. My logic felt solid: why would I call attention to what's normal? What I didn't realize was that my silence was also a powerful form of communication. My team had no idea what I valued because I never told them. They defaulted to the basics, not the exceptional. The culture I supported, without meaning to, was one where people did just enough to avoid getting corrected but saw no benefit in excelling.
What the Research Actually Says
B.F. Skinner's perspective on reinforcement theory is simple and direct: a behavior that gets noticed tends to be repeated. When a behavior is followed by positive reinforcement, it tends to be strengthened. When it is ignored by leaders, it fades. Gallup's ongoing research reinforces this as well: They found that 70% of a team's engagement is directly tied to the leadership values. When individual recognition is specific and immediate, it creates a feedback loop that shapes positive culture faster than any policy manual ever could.
Five Ways to Change Culture with Recognition
1. Recognition provides more than morale. It signals what good looks like. When you name a behavior out loud, you are writing your team's culture manual in real time. Your attention tells your team what matters here.
2. Name the specific action, not just the result. "Great job today" tells your team nothing. "I noticed you walked that new employee through the process without being asked. That's exactly how we take care of each other here," tells them everything.
3. Timing matters. Recognition delivered hours after a behavior has a fraction of the impact of recognition in the moment. Catch it when it happens, and say it when it happens. In the space between action and acknowledgment is where the learning lives.
4. Tie praise to impact. Try this approach: “When you did that, it meant this for the team." When you connect behavior to outcome, it makes the recognition land. It moves praise from personal opinion to a professional signal.
5. Build the habit without making it feel performative. Leaders do not manufacture praise; they identify and provide it. Attention is a skill you will have to develop. The more you practice noticing what is right, the more your team learns that excellence and effort are not invisible.
Reflection
Think about the last time you recognized someone on your team. Was it specific? Was it timely? Did they know why it mattered?
What behaviors do you want to see more of on your team? Have you ever said them out loud?
You cannot build what you refuse to notice. Attention is how culture gets made.
This Week’s Challenge
Before your next shift ends, catch at least one person doing something right and name the specific behavior out loud. Be precise and engaging. Connect the action to results. Then watch the energy in the room shift.
Pull up your Boots, and Go Lead!
You’ve Got This.
Suggested Reading
The Behavior of Organisms. B.F. Skinner. Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1938. The foundational text on operant conditioning and reinforcement theory. Essential background for understanding why recognition works at a behavioral level.
Strengths Based Leadership. Tom Rath and Barry Conchie. Gallup Press, 2008. Research-backed examination of how leaders who focus on strengths build more engaged, productive teams. The data on recognition and engagement is directly relevant.
How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie. Simon and Schuster, 1936. A classic text on human motivation and the power of genuine appreciation in shaping behavior and relationships. Still holds up.
State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report. Gallup, Inc., 2024. The most comprehensive ongoing study of employee engagement worldwide. Foundational for understanding the manager’s outsized role in team performance and culture.
