Gratitude as a Team Sport
If you are reading Remarkable Results for the first time, please subscribe here?to receive each weekly issue.? If you like what you read, please share it with others.
You know that when we are grateful, we feel better and have a better attitude and outlook. Because of that, we know that gratitude is good. But those experiences also leave us thinking about gratitude as a personal thing. While gratitude is a personal experience, we can share it with others. And when we do, amazing things can happen for groups, too. Thus, it is worth considering gratitude as a team sport.
The Personal is the Collective
Your experience tells you that when you experience gratitude, you feel better.? The research shows that as we practice gratitude our energy is higher, we are more resilient, happier, forgiving and generous, and have lower stress and anxiety.??
Look at that list.
If you had a team that had higher energy, greater resilience, less stress and anxiety and was more forgiving, would you have a better team?
Would you have greater productivity, greater collaboration, higher retention, and less detrimental conflict?
Who wouldn’t want to lead or be a part of that team?
And while one individual practicing gratitude is lovely, when an entire team does it - when gratitude becomes a team sport - the benefits expand rapidly.
Want even better news?
Gratitude is Contagious
As team members see and share their gratitude, gratitude can spread – like wildfire.? The more people see it in each other and their surroundings, the more the feeling of gratitude grows and the benefits compound.?
The contagious nature of gratitude makes it a powerful practice for a team, and can create forward momentum, esprit de corps, and the relational glue that binds teams and creates high performance.?
Gratitude As a Cultural Goal
With all the talk about the importance of culture, gratitude is seldom discussed as a feature, criteria, or goal for a desirable culture.? When you consider the wide-ranging benefits for the individual and the team, it makes sense to consider gratitude in this way. Descriptions of great culture often include ideas like teamwork, collaboration, inclusion, and a positive atmosphere.? Working to tangibly build greater team gratitude will create all of those (and more) as a natural side effect.
领英推荐
Gratitude as a team sport???
If we think of it that way, and build our team’s gratitude skills, you will have a better team by most any measure.
A version of this first appeared on my blog.
……
Have a great week – The resources below will extend this article and support you in getting Remarkable Results.
You are Remarkable!
Kevin ??
How Gratitude Can Improve Difficult Situations, Team Relationships, and Attitudes
Join this?Remarkable Development?Session to see how gratitude is the hidden secret to those important outcomes, and how building a practice of gratitude will help you and your team far beyond these important outcomes too!
Leadership Gratitude
If gratitude isn't a part of your habitset, here are 4 reasons why it should be and how you can incorporate it into your daily routine. Watch...
Chief Executive Officer specializing in Business Operations and Data Science
2 年Thanks for the article Kevin Eikenberry. Excellent read and insights as always sir. ??
Author of All You Have To Do Is Ask
2 年Excellent advice, Kevin Eikenberry! We often think of gratitude as an individual experience (like keeping a gratitude journal), but making it a team sport is so powerful. Some teams start each meeting with a quick round of gratitude expressions (for someone or some event, etc.). The collective experience is uplifting. Research shows that witnessing positive acts (like gratitude) elevates positive emotions.
Dad x 4 | Husband | Leadership & Organizational Development | Life Purpose Coach | Triathlete | #WorkLifeSuccess
2 年One of my favorite ways to express gratitude as a team is to volunteer for service projects together, especially around the holidays. From Build-A-Block to food banks to soup kitchens, volunteering as a team is a great way to express gratitude, put things in perspective, and team build.