I had a meeting with a client recently, several months into a broader project alongside my coaching work.
I opened with a progress update. Steady, methodical work. The kind that matters but doesn’t always feel fast. Delays had slowed things down, and I was aware of it.
Then he said something I didn’t expect.
The executives I’d interviewed were excited about the project. They appreciated being included. They were eager to see what comes next.
That moment stayed with me. As a coach and consultant, I don’t often get direct recognition. The work speaks for itself. But hearing that gave me a real lift, and it gave me my momentum back.
It’s a good reminder for leaders. Recognition isn’t a reward for finished work. It’s what keeps people moving through it.
Feedback Flows One Way for Most Leaders
Most leaders are quick to give feedback when something’s off. A missed deadline, a dropped ball, a result that fell short, those tend to get addressed.
What gets less attention is the other direction. Naming what’s working. Calling out the effort that’s moving things forward, even when the finish line isn’t in sight yet.
It’s not that leaders don’t care. It’s that reinforcing what’s going well feels less urgent than fixing what isn’t. So it gets skipped, not out of indifference, but out of habit and pace.
And the gap adds up.
What People Actually Carry With Them
Here’s what the research on engagement keeps showing: people don’t just want to know when they’ve fallen short. They want to know when they’re on track.
Not empty praise. Not a generic “good job.” Specific, real recognition that tells someone their effort was seen and that it mattered.
That’s what people carry with them into the next week, the next project, the next hard stretch. It’s what keeps them engaged when the work is slow or the results aren’t visible yet. It’s what makes the difference between a team that pushes through and one that quietly pulls back.
Recognition doesn’t replace accountability. Strong leaders do both. But many default to one and let the other slide, and it’s almost always the recognition that gets dropped.
Momentum Is Something You Can Give
What my client said to me didn’t cost him anything. It took one minute, maybe two. And it shifted something real.
That’s how momentum works. It doesn’t always come from a breakthrough or a big win. Sometimes it comes from someone saying: I see what you’re doing, and it’s making a difference. Keep going.
Leaders have that to give. Every week, in every team interaction, there are moments where that kind of feedback would land, and most of them pass without it.
Not because leaders don’t value their people. Because no one built the habit.
Building the Habit
Recognition becomes consistent when it’s intentional, not just occasional.
That means building it into how you lead, not waiting for a big result to acknowledge, but making a practice of noticing what’s working along the way. The person who handled a tough situation well. The team that kept pace through a rough stretch. The effort that moved something forward even when no one was watching.
These don’t need to be formal moments. A direct, specific observation in a one-on-one is enough. The point is that it happens, regularly, genuinely, and tied to something real.
The Question Worth Sitting With
Are you giving your team the kind of recognition that keeps them moving, or are you waiting until the work is done to say anything at all?
Because by then, they’ve already decided how much they have left to give.
Recognition builds momentum. And momentum is what gets results.
Want to lead in a way that keeps your team engaged and moving? Let’s talk.
#Leadership #ExecutiveCoaching #Feedback #EmployeeEngagement #Management #LeadershipDevelopment