How to Expand Leadership with Gratitude
Leadership implodes on itself apart from gratitude.
Richness of life is contingent on gratitude.
Behavior not feeling:
Think of gratitude as a behavior not a feeling. Never allow your problems to prevent you from saying thank you to others.
Behave your way into gratitude, start saying thank you, today.
Gratitude:
- Expands energy.
- Expresses respect.
- Elevates confidence.
Gratitude lifts leadership out of the mud.
Gratitude says:
- I see you.
- You matter.
- You belong.
- I respect what you do.
- You contributed to success.
Gratitude enobles both recipient and giver.
Gratitude answers:
- Conceit. The narrowness of conceit is broken with gratitude.
- Anxiety. The dread of anxiety is weakened with gratitude.
- Anger. The heat of anger is cooled with gratitude.
- Resentment. The self-destruction of resentment is lifted with gratitude.
- Discontent. The darkness of discontent is brightened with gratitude.
- Stress. The tension of stress is lessened with gratitude.
- Self-importance.The weight of self-importance is lightened with gratitude.
A young leader asked how to talk about his accomplishments without seeming arrogant. I said, “Be thankful for the opportunity to serve and all those who made success possible. If you succeeded on your own, it’s not worth talking about”
Serious about gratitude:
- Schedule gratitude or busyness will push it out. List teammates on a gratitude calendar, for example.
- Begin your day by expressing gratitude to three people, then get to work. Pick up the phone or walk down the hall.
- Copy your boss, on gratitude emails.
- End your day with an act of gratitude, then go home.
Everyone of your direct reports should hear a specific thank you – from you – at least once a week.
The act of gratitude:
- Establish eye contact.
- Include appropriate touch.
- Name a behavior that produces results.
- Say the words, “Thank you.”
- Make it personal, “I appreciate you.”
How has gratitude, or the lack of it, impacted your leadership?
Dear Dan,
“If you succeeded on your own, it’s not worth talking about” is mighty statement. I also feel that the moment one talks about its achievement repeatedly, it loses its beauty. When people acknowledge it, accept is humbly. The moment, people seek attention for what they have achieved, they lose their respect. Hollow leaders always seek appreciation and attention from others. They do such things which may attract attention.
Leaders with gratitude do not seek any attention. They are content from within. They know, there are many great people around. I have gratitude and I believe in the philosophy. It has helped me to connect with the people. More than this, I have known myself better than before. It provide opportunity to introspect. I have seen people gaining power by using undesired means. They are hungry for power and use wrong mean to reach there. Once they reach there, they create lot of problems of people. It impacts people, relationship and environs unfavorably.
Speaking of Thanksgiving .. thanks for your daily “thought starters”
“..getting off on the right foot” is what my Mom called it 🙂
Many days you allow my thoughts to start in constructive. impactful ways (even challenging!) and I appreciate it. No need to wonder, it does makes a difference…
Enjoy a great Thanksgiving with loved ones.
Fifty times? The bar has just been raised and the gauntlet thrown. I accept the challenge!
Dan, you write wonderfully on this powerful “wellness” quality of gratitude—especially at this time of Thanksgiving. Sometimes when writers describe how and why we should be grateful, it can evoke a feeling of guilt—as if “the grateful” are among an elite few above others.
Yet, everyone is rich: All anyone has to do is count their blessings. Gratitude is a realization. We realize we receive a great deal more than we give. It is only with gratitude that our life becomes rich. And most importantly, ingratitude to man is ingratitude to God.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and then more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It turns a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
And for leaders seeking to build a more cohesive organizational culture, gratitude comes from the heart, and everyone is happier if we give others a bit of our heart rather than a piece of our mind.
Saying “Thank you.” is truly Thanksgiving. Excellent post, Dan.
Dear Dan,
Thank you!
A few weeks ago I was alerted to your postings and I have consistently found them helpful.
That helpfulness occurs in numerous ways, including passing on some of your messages to others.
Again: Thank you for doing the works you are achieving through your efforts with this ‘blog’.
Craig
Gratitude, the behavior – and the attitude, says as much about the leader as a person. A part of the group or team. A member of society.The leader that begins each employee/staff encounter with SINCERE signs of appreciation for that fellow employee…fellow staff member…serves as a powerful catalyst and emissary wherever he or she goes.
I love the concept that gratitude is behavioral. I have to admit I may feel thankful most of the time yet I don’t show the evidence of that feeling. I am making a goal here and now to say thank you, send thank you notes, telephone friends ands family and start sharing the evidence of my feelings of gratitude. Thanks so much!
The 4 specifics you give under “Serious about gratitude” are amazingly simple and quickly actionable. Thank you for taking space to provide those. I feel like I’m almost unfairly benefiting from your experience.
I wrote a thank you email last week to a project manager (CC-ed his manager and mine) but now I’m going to make sure I schedule those to recur on my calendar.
Couldn’t agree more! I know that my personal leadership success is due in large part to the great people I work with and… I believe their dedication is due to the fact they feel recognized and appreciated for their work. Thanks Dan for your post!
Hi Dan,
I love this topic a lot. I go to extends of giving staff handwritten notes using my personalised stationery. Generally I write to them expressing my gratitude about their contribution to the team. I also add what I see and what I believe in them for days ahead. I do so mainly because I recognise the way I see them is very important and valuable to them. Doing this has made the team to be extremely loyal to me, as well as increased team morale.
Some of the team love work than home more because at home they felt there is no appreciation at all for them. I have discovered that you can literally correct the team and appreciate them at the same time…I believe As a leader you will never say thank you enough to your team. Thanks Dan for empowering us to lead better once again! Kel
End everyday with gratitude is a great recommendation. If we fail to show our appreciation to our team they won’t stick around long. I remember working with a manager that was always tense and never appreciated her staff. The team slowly moved on over the course of the year and I am not sure if that leader ever really learned the importance of gratitude.