Superpower #21: Gratitude
What if you could reward, motivate and energize someone with just a simple act? What if that power was within you now, would cost you nothing and required no equipment? Well I have great news...
What is the most effective way to motivate and encourage someone to do their best work? Is it handing them a strict deadline? An inspirational speech to go climb that hill and achieve some big business objective? Is it offering them an off-cycle cash-bonus? or maybe even the promise of a promotion? Nope, nope, more nope and heck no! (I really hope you don’t promise people promotions. )
It’s simple. Find the right moment, pull that person aside, look them in the eye and….say ”thank you”. That’s it! That’s all you have to do. You can stop reading now. Done with sincerity the results will amaze you.
About 4 years ago, I made a commitment to lean in on gratitude, and it has been a long overdue breakthrough for me frankly. I have discovered that saying thank you, is a powerful tool and one too often goes underutilized in a my arsenal.
Why was this such a revelation?
I was raised to judge things. Show me something you did or achieved and I’m going to pick it apart almost immediately. This isn’t conscious on my part, I guess it’s just my default behaviour or something I picked up from those around me. (True story when I was a kid I got a 98% in Leaving Cert Honors Math and was asked “what happened to the other 2%?” - this literally scarred me for life).
I used to think my self-worth was somehow linked to how well I could cast judgement on things. I thought that by judging, or “providing feedback” as I learned to call it I would somehow:
Demonstrate my understanding - I will prove that I’m intelligent and knowledgeable and that I know what’s going.
Justify my leadership - Surely by providing some insight I can demonstrate that I have a lot of experience and am worthy of my leadership position.
Encourage the person - I can “encourage” someone to reach new heights by providing more ideas, thus simultaneously endorsing what’s been done and building upon it to go even further.
These are easy traps to fall into but I’ve come to realize when someone delivers on a milestone what that person really needs to hear, myself included, is “amazing job, and THANK YOU”. If you are hiring the right kinds of people, that’s generally all they’ll need.
As a leader my responsibility is to help teams avoid pitfalls that I’ve encountered previously so in those situations I try to make a point of separating the conversations - leading with gratitude and then following up with additional guidance.
Behold the Benefits of Gratitude!
Saying “thank you” is magic in many ways. When you express thanks either in a 1x1 or public forum, it validates that person’s efforts. It means “I see you and I appreciate your effort”. When you celebrate the person publicly it “Sponsors” them (that’s another super-power you have, more on this in a future post).
Gratitude works 1x1, remote, in public or in private. The recipient doesn’t even have to be present! I will shout-out someone if I think it’s warranted even when they’re not in the room as a means to have their contribution recognized. It also sends a message to the org - that good effort is recognized and appreciated. It’s harmless, costs nothing but it can be meaningful.
This past week in the USA was Thanksgiving. In 2022 we started a slack channel internally named “#thankful2022” and solicited everyone in the company to drop a message celebrating someone for whom they were thankful. The response was incredible and the good vibes flowed all year through. I’m happy to say this tradition continued into 2023, the channel is new, “#thankful2023” but the idea is the same. It’s a simple notion that maybe you can pioneer in your org?
Life is multi-dimensional and complex. It’s taken me far too long to figure that out. Everyone’s dealing with much more than what you realize and far more than what they bring to work. A simple act of gratitude, however trivial can change a person’s entire day. I hope you’ll try it and see what happens.
Thank you for reading!
Thank you, Francis. Beautifully written. And by the way, you've been practicing this longer than you know.