This is traditionally the time one would write a post that details all the things he's grateful for. This is not that post. The concept of gratitude deserves more than that.
In recent months I've gotten the opportunity to build formal coaching relationships with managers at several client companies in our space. Among many other topics, we often discuss the adoption and application of core team values: those qualities that become the basis for your strategies and decisions, and with which your team most strongly identifies - now and when they look back on their work with you. We discuss core values like resiliency, adaptability, action, curiosity and pride. Ideas like joy, empathy, respect and passion also find their way into the discussions. All are hugely powerful and useful in crafting culture and shaping behavior. But perhaps the most powerful value is one that's often overlooked.
Yes, gratitude.
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In far too many organizations, being grateful is something we need to remember to do... it's the seasoning we add at the end of a project, a sale, a quarter. Gratitude is something we summon and put on display on special occasions. But imagine the powerful change that occurs when gratitude is embraced as a core value...when it becomes part of who you are as a team and as individuals.
In life and business, gratitude is the fuel that makes us work harder and be more committed than we otherwise might. It's the nourishment that helps us rise to the occasion and overcome cynicism in the face of big, hairy, audacious goals. If one of your first active thoughts in a day is about being grateful, it's almost impossible to have a bad day.
Imagine your team living up to the following statement: We will live, work and act gratefully in all we do. Just having this as a vision would change how you address customer service, interdepartmental work and collaboration and the sales process itself. If you started with, I'm really grateful to have this account, your work, approach and commitment would all shift dramatically.
Gratitude is the most human of superpowers. We can all decide to embrace it on a deeply personal level, and you can choose to make it core to your team's values first thing tomorrow.
Being grateful is not something to remember. It's something to live up to.
