Claims

Third-party praise (telling a third party about someone's excellence rather than telling the person directly) is more powerful than direct praise because: (1) it makes the person look good in front of someone else, (2) there's no 'but' attached (high-standard people often qualify praise with caveats), and (3) it signals higher sincerity—you wouldn't tell a third party if you didn't really believe it—and it eventually comes back to the person in a way that feels like genuine recognition.

The negativity effect—the psychological phenomenon that negative information carries more weight and impact than positive information—is why leaders naturally buffer feedback by starting with softening statements; but most leaders don't buffer enough, leaving relationships chronically out of balance with too much negative feedback relative to positive, which causes people to withdraw, shut down, and become defensive before feedback even arrives.