Managers are often taught to praise their employees often. But I don’t think we really want “praise.”

Think about it.

If you think your work is crap but your manager says “good job” how genuine does that feel?

I wonder if what we really want is engagement.

What if we didn’t just want someone to say “good job” every now and then, and instead we wanted them to take an interest in our work. Someone to dig in to our thinking, really try to understand our intended outcome, and learn our story.

Yes - people want someone to be at the finish line cheering them on.

But I think what is more valuable is that person who is with us from when we start training, to when we start the race, and at the finish line.

The ultimate gift is the gift of attention.