It's their job!

RANT ALERT!!!

I can't believe I'm still hearing some leaders say, “They are just doing what’s required of them in their job. Why should I thank them?” Really? How’s that working out for you?

Some leaders seem to believe that employees should be grateful that they have a job, and just get on with it. And while you’ll never hear me say a bad word about gratitude, (It’s a powerful way to shift mindset and even body chemistry for the better) this just doesn’t cut it.

Employees are the absolute engine room for success in business at any scale beyond sole practitioner. When they have clarity about what they are doing and why, and feel it’s genuinely appreciated, it makes a world of difference.

If you even remotely think “Why should I thank them?”, run an experiment. For a month, just try it. Go out of your way to catch people doing good work, showing good intent, contributing ideas, effort or leverage to your enterprise. Notice them doing it and thank them for it. See what a difference it makes. If you can’t find anything, thank them for showing up. See the differences in happiness,

CAUTION: Don’t even bother trying this if your thanks are not genuine. People can spot that BS from over the horizon.

For the rest of you leaders who genuinely get this and already make a habit of it - Thank you! Keep up the great work. How you make your employees feel contributes to my community!

OK. RANT over. Soap box returned to storage.

Gratitude for Strong Women

Some of my male ancestors are recorded in history as explorers. They took part in official and recorded voyages of science and discovery. I reckon I get some of my adventurous spirit from them… And from my Grandmothers, too. While the men of their era had opportunities to officially explore, both my grandmothers had massively adventurous spirits. They would regularly head off unannounced to explore and discover, especially in their later years when they had less social expectations to run a household, raise children, cover domestic tasks and often additional work on farms or in offices in between. 

Both encouraged me to discover and explore in physical terrain and in ideas. While neither said it outright, there was a sense of not wanting me to waste any moment available to look over the next hill. In different times, without the bias of expected gender based roles, I can imagine both of them heading up a major adventure with discovery as its theme. It would have been beautiful to see. 

On International Women’s Day I acknowledge the adventurous spirit of my Grandmothers and what it has given me as a human on this amazing planet.

Add Gratitude

Gratitude has copped a flogging over the last few years. The world is filled with Insta worthy moments and posts about gratitude. Many of them seem to be staged happiness for public view or overtly ‘rose coloured glasses’.

Reality can be tough. This year family, colleagues, friends and clients have experienced some doozies including:

• Life threatening illness

• Loss of loved ones

• Significant accidents/injuries

• Breakups both personal and business

• Massive financial losses

• Failed projects

• Being shafted by unethical people around them

• And many more.

There’s a good chance people close to you may have experienced one or more of these too.

Life consists of some awesome moments where things are going beautifully, and also uncertainty, challenge, heartache, stress, and occasionally outright survival.

The beauty of gratitude is that it doesn’t require life to be going well. Even in the darkest of times there are things to be grateful for. A growing body of research clearly shows it changes how we think and view the world. Gratitude is not just about the rosy times. It’s an effective tactic on the dirtiest of days in the toughest seasons too.

My wish for you in this festive season is that whether you are currently experiencing the best moments of your life, or some of the worst, you will find some moments of deep gratitude.

Here are some specific ways to Add Gratitude at this time of year...

Service People - Say a genuine thanks for their service in restaurants, bars, transport, shops, entertainment and more. At this time of year service people often bear the brunt of people's frustration. Stop and consider for a moment how this busy time of year is for them and what their service enables you to do. Say thanks and tell them why you are grateful.

Booze Busses - Imagine the impact of looking the cop in the eye and saying "Thanks for the delay - I'm grateful that you are helping keep our streets safe.

For Leaders - Your people! What have you been able to achieve this year with them. You might express gratitude to them individually, or in a card. Maybe you'll do a big function.

For Followers - Your Leaders! Leaders rarely get thanked. It's more common that they will see only the issues and problems that people want them to solve. What opportunities have been created for you by the leaders in your life?

When you get a gift - OK so it's not what you wanted. If all you do is compare your gift to your expectation, you are likely to be disappointed. Be grateful for the time and thought that someone has taken to get you a gift.

Loved Ones - Often the people closest to us see us at our worst. At busy times of year like Christmas, it can seem like you are just plowing through endless lists of things to do. Deliberately set the intention of being kind and gentle to each other. Tell each other why you love them. Take the time to notice and tell them about at least one thing a day that they did to make your life easier, feel more supported, or put a smile on your face.

Yourself - What are some of your greatest strengths and passions? What opportunities have you had? What skills do you possess? What are you learning or contributing?

Connect with Place - Sometimes life throws massive challenges our way. In times like this gratitude can be hard. For many Christmas is a sad and depressing time of year filled with challenges. If that's you, if it's hard to find gratitude in any of the above, then maybe you can find it in this place. Australia is a very safe, very prosperous place compared to many other spots in the world right now. If even that seems too big a stretch for you focus on the micro in the place. Notice trees and their shade, clean drinking water, the song of a bird, warm sun on your back, the smile of a stranger, colours in the sky, the sea and the land, the smell of summer rain, or the first hint of a sea breeze on a hot day.

Research tells us that a daily habit of gratitude profoundly impacts our well-being. It significantly reduces depression, increases resilience, brings genuine happiness, creates a sense of progress and physically rewires our brain for greater creativity, problem solving ability and personal effectiveness. It's one of the easiest, quickest and cheapest gifts we can give ourselves and the people around us. And it also turns out that the impact on our well-being is about the same, regardless of whether we are grateful for big or small things. I could be grateful that I'm not living in Syria right now, or grateful for a silly conversation with my wife that made me laugh. The scale of those things is vastly different, but their impact on me when I am grateful for them is similar.

There's so much to be grateful for, both big and small. All we have to do is take the time to find it.

I hope you and the people around you find many reasons for gratitude that refreshes you, strengthens you and sets you up for a great start to 2020 (I still reckon that sounds like science fiction!).