Be Grateful for the People You Lead

Note from Phil: When I first read this article, I thought about all the cool ways I could use a Grateful Box for my team, and help them focus on the little miracles we do every day. I knew this article was perfect for anyone reading Slacker Manager because it’s a simple yet powerful way of leading your team. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I do.

Be Grateful for the People You Lead by Christian Warren

One of the biggest complaints that workers have is that their managers or leaders see only the negative in what they do – or at the very least, it’s what leaders focus on the most. We leaders walk a fine link between making our people accountable and making them feel guilty and anxious about their shortcomings. Every time we focus on people’s faults and deficiencies, we diminish their contributions and worth, decreasing their efficiency and undermining their morale.

While it’s important to help identify and correct the shortcomings of our team members in appropriate ways, we cannot do it while ignoring what they do right. What about all the times they showed up early and stayed late, when they selflessly took on a job nobody else wanted or supported us when nobody else would? What about all the times they worked when they were sick? Or when they skipped lunch and didn’t complain, helped others when they didn’t have to, or made us laugh when we felt like screaming?

These small unsung moments create the positive energy that makes our workplaces enjoyable and productive. As leaders we must not lose the significance of these moments in our big-picture vision. A pro-active and future-focused manager knows that these small acts create our larger picture and shape our lives.

Every time you choose to acknowledge these moments with gratitude, seeing the small miracles that occur within your organization, you empower people to keep doing what they are doing. This cycle of evolution and development not only makes people feel better; it makes them act better; which in the long run makes the organization better as an enterprise.

I encourage you as a leader and manager to actively look for something to be grateful for each day about your team and your organization. Be innovative and put up a Grateful Box where others can write in what they are most excited about or grateful for at the workplace.

For one quarterly cycle commit to yourself that each time you hold a meeting you start out with the phrase, “I’m grateful for these specific things that our team did …” and list the top three. The more you search for opportunities to be grateful the more you’ll be surprised at how well your team works together and how many things there are to be grateful.

And speaking of grateful, I’m grateful for having had the chance to contribute as a guest blogger to Phil’s amazing and inspiring blog!

This is a guest post from Christian D. Warren, author of the best-selling leadership book, “Running with the Rhinos.” You can find him online at christianwarren.com.