November FAQ – How Can Gratitude Help Me Be A Better Leader?

One Friday each month, I dedicate the post to looking at some questions I have heard recently from developing leaders. Sharing those questions and my thoughts for them is a way for me to spread the information to as many leaders and future leaders as possible. If you have a question about leadership, or just a situation you would like some additional insight on, please email me at Effective Retail Leader. Let’s take a look at this week’s question.

I want to express gratitude more with my team, I understand it can help me be a better leader. How can I do that, and not feel like I am overdoing it?

I saved this question to use during November and around Thanksgiving. I probably shouldn’t have, I don't mean to imply that gratitude is only for this time of year. This is a really good question, where the output can and should be used throughout the year. There is also a common undertone to this as well: does expressing too much gratitude make my team feel entitled and potentially only work for the recognition?

I am getting too much recognition, or my managers express too much gratitude – said no employee in the history of time.

There are enormous amounts of data that support the idea that expressing gratitude improves engagement. Improved engagement leads to better results. Period. I think the only risk you run in expressing too much gratitude is if that expression becomes inauthentic. If you are specific, thoughtful, timely, and genuine, I think it would be nearly impossible to tell people they are doing great work too much.

Expressing gratitude can require courage. While this should be something that feels good (and it will for both you and the other person), it can be a sense of wondering whether you are recognizing the right thing, with the right details. Or that you may leave someone else out. Or even that you end up recognizing the wrong person over the one who really did the work. Those are risks, but minor. Certainly the upside outweighs the potential downside. If you miss someone who deserved your gratitude, add them in and acknowledge the situation.

1 in 10 actually express gratitude in their workplace.

Another thing you can do is to ensure you are recognizing at all levels. It can be easier sometimes to express your gratitude to your direct reports only. As a Store Manager, you are likely closest to your second-level management team. Of course, they should hear your grateful thoughts for their work, but don’t stop there. Sharing direct recognition and the appreciation you have for those supervisors or associates that are directly completing the work and talking to the customers is a massive boost to the morale in those individuals. In fact, this can be an even more powerful gesture to help your business.

Gratitude doesn’t have to be spontaneous

It can feel like you need to always be “leader on the spot” and catch them doing the right thing, right when it happens. That is not true. Expressing your gratitude as timely as possible is best, but again, as long as it is genuine and still specific, timing becomes less relevant.

It may seem weird if you build a plan for gratitude. It doesn’t have to, though. If that is the best way for you to begin a practice of gratitude, you should build that into your routine. Maybe you make time one day a week to write personal notes to hand out to people that day. You don’t have to broadcast that Wednesday is recognition day. You can vary the day based on what makes the most sense for you. And I am reminding you again, as long as it's authentic and specific in nature, gratitude will have the impact you are looking for.

One final thing to keep in mind is that gratitude takes practice. Saying that again: gratitude takes practice. This is a skill that you can build and hone over time. If you want more ideas on how this can work, there is great work from Chaster Elton and Adrian Gostick that covers tons of data and information on Gratitude. Leading With Gratitude is a recent book that shares many ideas and examples of how leading this way can make a huge difference in your business.

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