If you only lift people up when others are watching, that’s branding, not leadership.

Public encouragement is easy because it pays you back immediately, in how you look to everyone present. Private encouragement has no return at all, which is exactly why it is the version that proves something. People can tell the difference almost instantly, and they adjust how much they trust you accordingly.

Tell somebody they did well when nobody else can hear it this week. Send the message instead of making the post. If you would not bother saying it with no audience, that is worth noticing about yourself rather than hiding from.