4 Strategies to Bring Gratitude into The Workplace
Competitive, challenging and constantly changing that is today’s marketplace. If that last two years have taught us nothing else it is that our lives, our health, our businesses, and our customers – things can change in a moment’s notice. To succeed we must be hyper vigilant and prepared for anything.
It is tough out there. It takes a lot of energy and focus and allows little time for rest. That is exactly why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday here in the U.S. It is a holiday with no fuss and limited stress. We do not have to decorate, buy presents, or throw big parties.
All we have to do is slow down, close our offices and spend a little time with family and friends sharing a meal and reflecting on what we are thankful for. Okay for some of you there maybe the requirement of watching a lot of football too J But in essence it is quiet holiday that allows us to focus on something that is good for our family, our friends, ourselves, our community and even our business – gratitude.
When we think about gratitude we typically think of relationships or what we are grateful for in our personal lives, but gratitude also plays a significant role in business. According to research done by Plasticity Labs gratitude has an incredibly positive impact on leadership and business.
The impact of a culture of gratitude:
- A culture of gratitude predicts higher job satisfaction for team members and leaders
- A culture of gratitude fosters a powerful sense of connection and community
- Employees who work in a culture of gratitude focus more on what is right with their job rather than what they do not like
- Employees who work in a culture of gratitude believe that their job and work environment will consistently get better and continuously improve
Gratitude is powerful. It is good for you, your team, your business, and your community.
4 Strategies to Bring Gratitude into The Workplace
- Make a List – of the things in your workplace that you are grateful for right now. What is valuable and what are you proud of? Things like your business is doing well; you made it through the last two years: you are coming together again and connecting as a team; you have retained most of your employees etc.
Make a list of what you are grateful for and take a few moments to start your day by reading it. Beginning every day by reviewing this list, will ensure that you see the workday through the lens of being grateful.
- Find Opportunity – make the time to be grateful and be intentional. If you want to find a culture of gratitude, then you need to find the opportunities to see the good things in your company. I work with a CEO, who finds one grateful act every morning, and one grateful act every afternoon. He leaves his office and goes to find the positives with his team and in his company. He then shares that with the entire team.
- Focus on Wins – to create a culture of gratitude you need everyone focused on finding the good things in your organization and with their fellow team members. So, when you see others practicing gratitude focus on those wins. What you as the leader focus on will expand, that is what you will get more of. To get more gratitude in your business you need to call it out, focus on it, and celebrate every act of gratitude you see.
- Be Mindful – last but not least, be mindful. This takes work. I know I am frustrated by things more often than I see the positive and reflecting on what I am grateful for. You need to train yourself to start to integrate gratitude into every facet of you are the way you lead. By being mindful, you will create opportunities to find the good vs the bad and reap the rewards of what a grateful culture will bring into your business and your life.
So, I am wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving if you celebrate. If not, hoping your day is full of wonderful and positive acts that bring all the rewards that only a culture of gratitude can bring.
