I have no dom right now, so I can only answer the question from memory, but perhaps hindsight is clearer here anyway.

While my dom could be very demeaning in talking to me (which is the way I enjoy domination) and was extremely critical of my performance, he did not hesitate to show his pleasure. Not necessarily in so many words, but once you know a dominant well enough to accept him as your Master, you should be well-versed reading his body language and his reactions to your service. So sometimes while he was criticizing me, his body showed how much he was enjoying me. And that is what made me proud. Sometimes it really worked in a contradictory way. The more I managed t pleasure and arouse him, the harder, the more critical, the more demeaning verbally he became. So that I knew that when he got really hard on me, that was when I had really served him well.
Let me add that he was extremely helpful and uplifting about anything not connected with my service of him e.g. my performance at university or at my chosen sport.

Yours

Anne