This week the Thanksgiving Holiday is celebrated in the U.S. But it matters not where you live around the world: Leading with gratitude is an effective way to differentiate yourself.
How effectively does your team operate from its values? Determine if your team is truly leading with the “thanks giving” spirit by assessing your responses in these situations:
1. The jerk down the hall seems to question every decision you make…and you “have his back” and fight for his success anyway.
2. Your boss hasn’t recognized your efforts in years. (Heck, you wonder if he knows you’re still on the payroll)…regardless, you keep giving your best effort.
3. You think you work for a company called “Meeting, Inc.” because every day it’s one meeting after another… still, you show up determined to express the best version of yourself possible.
4. Your organization is thinking about rebranding itself with the slogan, “We Don’t Have the Resources” because that’s what you hear every time someone wants to do something…in spite of this, you continue to bring your best ideas forward.
5. Another year is coming to a close and you still haven’t found the Holy Grail: Work-Life Balance…and yet, you still live in-the-moment and bring your version of joy to every interaction with others.
6. A potential customer replies, “Thanks, but we’re going a different direction”…and you move to gratitude for the valuable lessons you’ll harvest from the experience.
7. You catch yourself thinking, “If I get copied on one more irrelevant email I’m going to launch this computer across the office”…but you don’t, and instead walk down the hall for a face-to-face conversation (instead of adding to the email avalanche.
8. You’re stunned by how many people around you function without integrity…regardless, you remain relentless in your determination to live out of your values.
Thanks + giving
Some teams focus on the “thanks” (which means they are waiting for the kind act of others). But excellence begins at the moment of “giving.”
