The Grateful Leader

 

Gratitude seems to be the new buzzword as you hear people say it all the time, “just be grateful” but let’s take a deeper look into what that means in terms of leadership.

The grateful leader practices gratitude and leads others to practice gratitude too.

Gratitude is more than saying thanks. It is a trend that can get us through troubling times.

Many of us have a habit of sending thank you emails or thank you notes as a gesture of thanks but perhaps they are without the depth of feeling they could have. Sharing how a gift or deed had meaning in your life will have more impact than just using words of appreciation.

Gratitude is something we have to work at. Thankfully, there are some great ways to do this. 

I suggest daily journaling as a way to start being in gratitude. For some people this feels too much like another thing on their list of the many things they have to do. The internet is full of ways to show gratitude in your everyday life. Perhaps you could call friends/family more, cook a meal for people you love, choose not to participate in negativity, give compliments, and choose to see the positive in all situations.  

In the professional setting, gratitude can be incorporated into everyday life as team-building exercises or in one-on-one meetings with your team. 

Gratitude isn’t just something nice to practice but it also has some great health benefits. Educating those you lead about this will help them want to practice the habit of gratitude.

The benefits of gratitude can benefit you personally as well as your family, friends, and your workplace. Here are some of the benefits of gratitude for the individual leaders and groups: 

• increased happiness and positive mood

• more satisfaction with life

• less materialistic

• less likely to experience burnout

• better physical health

• better sleep

• less fatigue

• lower levels of cellular inflammation

• greater resiliency

• encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom

• increases prosocial behaviors

• strengthens relationships

• may help employees’ effectiveness

• may increase job satisfaction

 

Best, 

Manal