Thanksgiving for Our Colleagues

There are few qualities as important as gratitude. It is the foundation of healthy relationships and wholesome organizational cultures. It is the substance of respectful and thrusting working relationships, including how people feel about their manager, e.g., wanting to work with and follow her(him).

Also, gratitude has a positive, helpful effect on us, our mindset and mood, and our enthusiasm – and these are contagious in our workplace.

Everyone wants to feel appreciated, valued and heard. Yet, the majority of people in business do not. There are a variety of reasons – their manager is nearly solely focused on results, or the manager is self-absorbed with her position and status, or the manager takes her people for granted, or the manager is in meetings most of the day and not out in the halls with her people, or the manager is insecure and hesitant to help others succeed, and many other similar reasons.

In my short article last week, I concluded with “A manager thinks first about numbers, while a leader thinks first about people”.

This Thanksgiving week take the opportunity to let everyone know our gratitude for their being on our team, that they each are important, as are their work and contributions. We must be genuine in sharing this message. Take time in our conversations, smile, comfortable eye contact, give our full attention – show we are sincere and that we care about them and their well-being. We will all be rewarded.

Leadership is how we help people feel about themselves.

Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to us all and our families.