We’ve certainly come a long way from the days when employees had to wait until their retirement parties to hear some appreciation for their contributions to the workplace. Organizational culture has evolved to almost insist on professional gratitude from leaders, leaving our grandparents to shake their heads in disbelief about how good we have it. Today’s leaders have adopted the responsibility of offering “honest and sincere appreciation” Dale Carnegie style, even if they had gratitude misers for bosses early in their careers. The most effective leaders know how to rise to the gratitude occasion and use hearty praise and recognition to motivate strong performance.
The thing is, it’s been a hundred years since Mr. Carnegie reminded the Rockefellers to practice a little gratitude in leadership. While most leaders recognize the importance of appreciation and positive feedback for employee development and cultivating a strong team, many stick to “transactional gratitude” in most professional situations. A colleague does a good job creating a positive result, we express gratitude for the outcome’s beneficial impact on results or relationships, and we move on. We tend to focus our appreciation on the results we achieve and miss significant opportunities to recognize the professional contributions that matter most.
Our overreliance on transactional gratitude makes us question if it’s time for leaders to elevate their gratitude game and expand how they show appreciation at work. While celebrating wins and highlighting goal achievements is valuable, leaders have an opportunity to broaden their praise and recognition efforts to encompass an expanded context for professional appreciation.
In this lesson, we’ll delve into strategies behind Leadership Gratitude 2.0 and explore what it takes to cultivate a modern culture of gratitude at work. We will increase awareness of new opportunities to express gratitude for a job well done and recognize the impact of consistent gratitude on professional fulfillment.
Strategies to Level Up Your Gratitude Game
Cultivate a Personal Gratitude Practice - In yet another obvious example of securing your oxygen mask before being of use to anyone else, the first step toward becoming a grateful leader is to develop a personal practice of gratitude. A growing body of research from The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkley concludes that just 15 minutes per day to write, express or meditate on gratitude can have measurable benefits across various aspects of our lives - including the quality of our professional partnerships, perceptions of leadership performance, and overall wellbeing. A personal gratitude practice can be one of the foundational pillars upon which a fulfilling professional life is built.
Praise Effort Over Outcomes - Concentrating appreciation on results alone means we miss a valuable opportunity to positively reinforce the essential components of success, regardless of the outcomes we achieve in specific circumstances. Instead of waiting for good results to trigger praise and recognition, consider recognizing positive efforts along the way. Celebrate the qualities, values, and habits that lead to positive outcomes, as these are the essential elements of strong performance, and relegate recognition of outcomes to the inevitable consequence of these traits.
Recognize Support for Strong Performance - While it’s easy for leaders to turn their gratitude attention toward those who are directly associated with goal achievement, some miss the chance to express sincere appreciation to those who support conditions for success. Administrative and support staff and family members are the unsung heroes who seldom receive praise when all goes well. We can take their task-related contributions for granted and overlook their involvement in a collective effort to create successful working conditions. Expand the scope of gratitude and appreciation to those who foster success in the background and celebrate the value of indirect contributions toward positive outcomes.
Leverage Challenges to Cultivate Gratitude - When things are going well, leaders swan dive headfirst into appreciation for accomplishments, milestones, and healthy financial results. However, the ability to express gratitude, even when facing difficulties, is a key aspect of leveling up your gratitude game as a leader. Acknowledge the value of lessons learned, embrace the opportunity to develop resilience, and celebrate individual contributions that alleviate stress in challenging circumstances. From this vantage point, we focus our attention on the opportunities for growth that come along with difficult times, and channel some gratitude energy toward the strengths required to meet challenging conditions.
Show Gratitude in Development - Invest in career development strategies that help employees nurture the professional qualities and characteristics necessary for long-term success. Instead of focusing career development attention on special projects, classes, workshops, and training opportunities, dedicate this valuable mentorship time toward cultivating the professional qualities and characteristics that prepare individuals for a lifetime of success. Consider strategies to develop leadership characteristics like resilience, stress tolerance, and perspective-taking, and seize the opportunity to show gratitude by contributing positively toward long-term career growth and development plans.
Connect Contributions to the Big Picture - In the transactional relationship between results and recognition, our teams become so focused on accomplishing tasks that they lose sight of the impact of their contributions on the big-picture goals of the company. To foster a culture of gratitude, leaders should regularly link individual and team efforts to the mission and vision of the company, and communicate appreciation for those efforts toward the aspirational goals of the organization. Most of us can tap into a deep well of commitment when we connect our work to a higher purpose and feel our leaders appreciate our role in serving a meaningful mission. Motivate dedication to strong performance by expressing gratitude for our colleagues’ contributions to support bigger goals.
Encourage a Culture of Gratitude - Leveling up our gratitude game goes beyond top-down gestures of appreciation from a superior to a subordinate. Gratitude thrives in professional conditions where leaders set a positive example of gratitude for the efforts that have the most significant impact on successful outcomes, and also provide ample opportunities for multi-directional praise and recognition at all levels of the organization. Establish praise and recognition practices as a part of how teams collaborate and encourage team members to focus appreciation efforts on how they work together instead of what they achieve.
Accept Gratitude with Grace - If we embrace the chance to expand our gratitude repertoire to communicate appreciation from a broader perspective, we should also learn to accept gratitude from others with grace. Many professionals, especially women, tend to downplay their professional contributions and diffuse credit for the efforts that lead to positive outcomes. They turn away from the spotlight shined on good performance and miss key opportunities to underscore the habits, traits and decisions that predicate positive outcomes. Before you shrink in the face of gratitude headed in your direction, think twice about the example you set when you receive praise and recognition as the worthy recipient you are. Challenge yourself to just say “thank you” and soak up some well-deserved glory for a job well done.
Expanding opportunities for gratitude in your daily routine can reinforce the benefits of appreciation with your team, foster a culture of gratitude within your organization, and deepen the fulfillment that comes along with leadership responsibility. By committing to some personalized form of consistent gratitude, expressing appreciation from a broader perspective and establishing praise and recognition as a hallmark of your leadership style, you create a motivated environment that leads to greater success in your personal and professional life. Dedicate the time and attention required to become a worthy ambassador of Leadership Gratitude 2.0 and see what happens when we evolve the practice of gratitude to a place our grandparents could only dream of.
Danielle Terranova is the voice behind Leadership Lessons with Danielle.
She has been an executive coach since 2015 and owner of Terranova Consulting, LLC since 2019.
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