“A compliment is a gift, not to be thrown away carelessly, unless you want to hurt the giver.”

– Eleanor Hamilton, Associate Dean, Lancaster University Management School

“I don’t give out compliments,” she said, “and I don’t like to receive them either.”

I had just started a new job and was going through an orientation with the sales manager. I was taken aback by the comment, but she was right. She never once complimented me the entire time I worked for the business. In fact, it was quite the opposite, with an endless string of criticisms. She needn’t have worried about receiving compliments from me. I could find absolutely nothing to praise her about either. Suffice it to say. I didn’t stay at the job for long.<...

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