The person who accepts a supporting role deserves recognition of the skill that role requires.

Supporting well is a craft, not a consolation. It takes judgment to know when to step in and when to stay out of the frame, memory for the details nobody else is tracking, and enough ego management to let another person be the visible one. Because the result looks effortless, the skill gets read as agreeableness, and the praise goes entirely to the part that was easy to see.

Thank someone this week for something specific they did in the background, naming the judgment involved rather than their attitude. If you are in that role, describe your work in terms of decisions you made, not help you gave.