Gratitude and Leadership
Gratitude is a powerful — yet often underappreciated and underutilized — leadership skill that can transform you as a leader.
A number of studies over the years have linked gratitude to happiness, improved health, resiliency, stronger relationships and heightened productivity — even better sleep! So when you cultivate a thankful culture within your life, you’re creating an environment where you can thrive in so many ways.
Gratitude is about appreciating the people behind your success and acknowledging the contributions they make each and every day. In the midst of all the things you need to accomplish as a student, it can be difficult to take the time to stop and offer encouragement or a pat on the back. However, it is well worth the investment and will pay dividends to recognize when someone important in your life has completed a project, overcome a major hurdle or hit a milestone.
We all know feedback is essential to learn and grow for any leader, so how do you create a space where constructive, encouraging comments are the norm? Practicing gratitude with those closest to you allows you to build trust with them. With that trust at the core of your relationships, honest conversations can take place with respect and an open mind.
What this means though is that gratitude is not optional, and it can’t just happen occasionally or by accident. Gratitude must be practiced intentionally and frequently so that it becomes a habit ingrained in your everyday life.
Leaders create the culture within their groups through their words, actions and interactions. For everyone to enjoy the benefits of practicing gratitude — the improved health, those stronger relationships, the increased productivity — you must lead by example and create an atmosphere where gratitude is seen as adding value and contributing to success.
There are a number of ways to show gratitude on a regular basis:
- Who doesn’t love a hand-written note?? A personalized note is still one of best ways to brighten someone’s day, and it can take only minutes to accomplish.
- If you’re able, think about if there is a small gift that might show your gratitude for a person. A gift card to a coffee shop? A succulent? Some candy? It all depends on your budget and what the person would like best.
- Finally, don’t wait for the end of the year to acknowledge those who have made an impact on your college career. Take some time now and say thanks and share what they’ve done right. You’d be amazed at how a quick message to a faculty or staff that has helped you can provide them with some much-needed energy at the end of a busy semester.
If you’re thinking this all sounds like fluff — it’s not. There is a legitimate case for emphasizing gratitude within your circle (friends, family members, co-workers, and acquaintances). Leaders who recognize others with specific, timely positive feedback unlock new potential and inspire them to strive for bigger goals. This positively affects people’s outlook on life, job performance, and overall happiness.
As positive psychology expert and author of “The Happiness Advantage” Shawn Achor said in his popular TED Talk: “Happiness is an incredible competitive advantage.”
When gratitude comes not only from leaders but also from team members and colleagues, it fosters teamwork and cooperation and promotes empathy and compassion. Team members are no longer just out for themselves; they instead gain a personal stake in the success of others and the team as a whole.
Morale plays an important role within a team, and expressing gratitude is one of the fastest ways to increase morale in a real way. Everyone wants to be appreciated. Everyone wants to be recognized. Everyone wants to feel like what they do matters.
As President John F. Kennedy said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Choose to live and lead with gratitude every day.
Thanks to the group at Naylor for inspiring our blog post and providing such quality recommendations- see more from them here!
