Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, professor, author, political activist, and winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize once said, "When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude." We hear a lot about gratitude these days, but unfortunately we don't see much of it in today's society. Gratitude is defined as "being thankful" and "a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness." Real gratitude is more than just saying "thank you" - it is much deeper than that. We show our gratitude by saying "thank you", but more importantly we show our gratitude by truly appreciating when someone has done something nice for us and by re-paying and reciprocating that kindness in return.
Do you remember the movie, "Pay It Forward"? The movie starred Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, and Haley Joel Osment and told the story of a 12 year-old boy who started a goodwill movement called "Pay it forward." The concept was as simple as it was elegant - for every favor that you receive, you return to the favor by doing a favor for three different individuals. How much better would our world be if we followed that simple rule in life? We hear of similar stories in the real world, but they are few and far between. Just recently, I heard of a case in my home state of Indiana in which a McDonald's customer purchased her meal and the meal for the car behind her in the drive-through window. It was Father's Day, and she told the McDonald's employee that she was going to buy the father's and his children's meal behind her in celebration of Father's Day. Once the father heard what the woman had done, he in turn paid for the meal in the car behind him. Each driver in succession repeated the gesture until 167 drivers in a row had paid for the meal behind their car. The "chain of gratitude" only stopped when the restaurant closed at midnight.
Gratitude is contagious! And more importantly, gratitude makes you happier. Remember how good you feel inside when you give a loved one a present on his or her birthday? You are almost as excited as they are at times ("It's better to give than to receive" as the old adage goes). I remember how good I felt after writing thank you cards for a number of our physicians who had been recognized in our local business magazine. It was a simple, easy gesture for me, and I know they appreciated it (many thanked me afterward), but I think I got just happiness out of it as they did, in the end. As it turns out, there are a number of studies that show that gratitude improves your overall mood, reduces stress and anxiety, and improves your self-confidence.
Showing gratitude is something simple that we, as leaders can do to demonstrate for our teams that we really do care. Showing our appreciation for our teams will improve their moods, reduce any stress or tensions that they may be feeling, and ultimately make our teams more successful. As an extra bonus, showing gratitude will improve our moods too! There are so many good reasons to show gratitude, and as Elie Wiesel suggested, a true leader's attitude can be defined by the level of gratitude that he or she shows.
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