Definition
Praise is the public or private acknowledgement of a specific behaviour or contribution. It overlaps with appreciation but carries a leadership-specific function: praise shapes the future. A leader who praises careful thinking gets more careful thinking; one who praises speed gets more speed; one who praises nothing gets whatever the team defaults to.
The distinction from flattery is the same as for appreciation — praise must be specific and true. The distinction from generic positive language is that praise names the exact behaviour the leader wants repeated and explains why it mattered.
Why it matters
How it works
Effective praise has four properties: specific (names the exact behaviour), timely (close to the event), public when possible (others see what gets rewarded), and proportional (not exaggerated). The most common failure mode is vague praise — "great job team" — which costs nothing for the leader to say and is therefore worth nothing to receive.
The second most common failure mode is private praise that should have been public. If the behaviour is one the leader wants the team to imitate, the praise needs to be visible to the team. If the praise is about a personal moment of growth, private is right.