Maintaining a sense of gratitude can produce a positive mood and make people feel more productive. These feelings can be infectious and improve decision-making and problem-solving skills which makes gratitude an important part of a successful workplace. Especially for those in leadership positions, expressing gratitude can have profound impacts on their employees. By allowing their thoughts to center on thankfulness, leaders can practice gratitude and incorporate it into their leadership styles.
Journaling and Visualization
Before leaders can use their attitude of gratitude for others, they must have an internalized sense of gratitude themselves. An easy way to begin this practice is to start with journaling and visualization. People can make a list each day of specific things and people for which they are thankful. For those who find journaling difficult, they can close their eyes and intently think about one thing they are grateful for. Practicing gratitude in these ways helps positively align people’s thoughts. The more leaders identify examples of gratitude in their own lives, they can begin to pass that to their employees.
Employee Investments
Leaders can practice gratitude and spur employee careers by investing in their careers. This can be through providing opportunities to attend professional development courses or even providing regular encouragement. Supervisors can meet with individual employees informally to talk about their goals, provide advice on their careers, and discuss challenges at work. Opting to take time out to help someone in the early stages of their career can show employees just how much their managers are thankful for their work. It can also give employees direction and make them more productive.
Regular Gratitude
Rather than a generalized thank you, people, who practice gratitude in leadership engage is specific gratuitous acts. Remarking about a specific employee’s achievement should be a heartfelt and regular practice. Leaders can reflect on how employee actions and goal obtainments truly helped them and their companies. Offering a genuine and specific thank you to employees then motivates those employees to do more and feel valued.
When leaders internalize and express gratitude, an entire workplace can experience a positive impact. Sharing the positive energy that comes from living a gratuitous life and using positive thoughts to inspire others is an essential part of leadership. If leaders focus on their experiences of gratitude, then they can find ways to engage and encourage their employees.