Gratitude is typically seen as a personal endeavor. I am a big believer in both the mindset and practice of gratitude. As leaders, we have a major opportunity and responsibility that goes beyond our personal beliefs and practices. Today, I want to make a case for leadership gratitude.
Simply put, you are a more effective, productive, and happier human when you practice gratitude. And you are a more effective, productive, and happier leader when you practice gratitude, too.
Certainly, there are personal benefits of gratitude that carry over to our work as a leader, but why else should we be grateful as a leader?
Leadership gratitude positively impacts all of these things:
- The trust on your team. Do you trust people more when they show appreciation to you? When people are thankful for input and help, and tell others how they feel, trust will grow between team members. As more share their appreciation, trust will grow across the entire team. Where does this start? With you as the leader.
- The attitude of your team. Leaders often ask me how to change the attitude of their teams. They want more positive energy among the team members – and I agree this is a worthwhile goal. When the leader shows their gratitude to others, will that raise the energy of the team? Most assuredly.
- The collaboration amongst the team. If trust grows, and positive energy flows, what will happen to collaboration? People are more likely to collaborate with those who show appreciation to each other and to the work itself.
- The engagement of your team. People don’t engage because of foosball tables and fancy coffee machines (besides those are all at the office now anyway). People engage with work and people they care about. When there is a sense of gratitude and appreciation around them, engagement will grow.
- The loyalty of your team. The biggest reason people leave a job voluntarily is that they fire their boss (that is you). Are they less likely to do that if their boss is positive, grateful, and appreciative?
- The culture of your team. Look at the items on this list. Every organization I’ve worked with on culture, and every book I’ve read about culture talks about building the things on this list. All of them can be enhanced by your spirit of gratitude which can spread like a positive, life giving virus across your team.
Gratitude isn’t the only thing that impacts these (and more) important aspects of your team – but it plays a far bigger role than most people realize. I urge you to think about the role gratitude plays in your life and in your work as a leader. I believe you will quickly see that building a practice of gratitude could be one of the most satisfying and gratifying ways to become a more effective leader.
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If I have convinced you, or at least have you considering the role of leadership gratitude, I urge you to join us for the first session of Remarkable Development. This new (and I think better) way of learning will help you build your habit of gratitude and thankfulness which you will then be able to translate to greater personal and leadership happiness and success. You can register here.
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