Re-living Positive Moments to Develop Gratitude!

Revisiting positive moments isn’t just about basking in past glory; it’s about learning and applying those insights. Identify patterns or themes in your successes. What strategies worked? What strengths did you rely on? Understanding these factors can help you replicate success and approach future challenges with a more informed perspective.

The Power of Re-living Positive Moments

Re-living positive moments means actively recalling and appreciating specific instances that bring you joy and satisfaction. Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign personalized their product, putting names and phrases on bottles. The idea was to spark connections and share positive moments with friends and family, reliving happy memories and creating new ones.

Why Gratitude is Essential for Leadership

As part of Seligman’s PERMA model, which includes positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement, a key positive emotion includes gratitude (Lianov, 2021). According to a study by University of Berkeley, a stunning 60% said they “either never express gratitude at work or do so perhaps once a year.”

Creating a Culture of Gratitude

Leaders who practice gratitude set the tone for their entire organization. By regularly acknowledging positive moments and expressing appreciation, leaders can create an environment where everyone feels valued and motivated.

Impact on Leadership

Studies by Gallup show that highly engaged employees thrive under leaders who express optimism and appreciation. By cultivating gratitude through reliving positive moments, you foster a more positive and productive work environment.

Perhaps the best way to underscore importance of Gratitude is to recollect a time in your life, when somebody that you worked for, has not recognized or appreciated what you have done for them. No job is “thankless”. In today’s world, where performance expectations are rising each passing day, we often see “backend” teams – Operations, Supply Chain etc.– get mentioned only when things don’t fall in place. How many times in boardrooms, meetings start and end with applaud for record sales, cracking new customers – without a slightest mention of backend teams who work tirelessly to support sales or new customer development?

There is no denial that without peak performance each day, no business can survive, let alone thrive! Star leaders understand, as part of their arsenal, to engage all of their teams and make them perform to best of their ability, gratitude is critical.

If the co-relation between Gratitude and Performance is so stark, why Leaders do not express Gratitude more often?

How to banish Gratitude Entitlement?

One of the key factor that pulls Leaders back is “Gratitude Entitlement” behavior that might get developed in the team. There are two tools that Leaders can use to banish this entitlement to Gratitude.

a)??? Differentiate Recognition : Best performers have to be rewarded differently – in appraisal cycles, annual awards and other forums, to explicitly communicate the “performance benchmark” to all teams.

b)?? ???Make Team Recognition Creative and Unpredictable: ?Partial Reinforcement theory by B.F Skinner suggests that Partial Reinforcement ( Variable Ratio, Variable Interval) leads to most consistent desired behavior by team, as Gratitude is delivered in different ways at different times , avoiding the Entitlement trap. ?

?

Star Mindset

Adopting a star mindset involves understanding and implementing strategies that inspire others. Star leaders are all about positive vibes. They cultivate gratitude by reliving positive moments, inspiring their teams, and fostering a thriving work environment. This mindset fuels their leadership presence and elevates their organization to new heights.

3 Immediately Applicable Action Steps

1. Memory Vault: Dedicate a few minutes each day to vividly recalling a past positive experience. Engage all your senses – what did you see, hear, smell, feel?
2. Gratitude Journal: Jot down three things you’re grateful for each day, big or small.
3. Positive Introductions: Next time you are introducing someone to your team member / colleague , also talk about how that team member / colleague “contributed” to you. ?

?

Conclusion

Just like Oprah Winfrey, who credits her success to a constant sense of gratitude.? Reliving these wins lets you reconnect with that feeling of being a leadership rockstar!? Imagine that crucial presentation you aced, or the time you rallied your team to conquer a seemingly impossible task. Recalling these moments isn't just about nostalgia; it's about harnessing the positive energy and insights from those experiences to power you forward.

Gratitude towards others is as important as Self Gratitude. Remember, Resources are drawn to where they are valued most !

As the saying goes, “A kinder heart is a healthier heart.” #BeTheStar

#Leadership #PositiveWorkCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #CorporateCulture #ExecutivePresence #YouOnlyLiveOnce #PositiveMindset

?

Author: ?Jeevan Pawar is Global Head of Supply Chain at Aditya Birla Advanced Materials. Empathetic leader managing multicultural global team, he has gone through the journey, from “Calling a spade a spade” to “ What we appreciate, appreciates – what we depreciate, depreciates” ! Avid psychology enthusiast & Jazz lover !

Disclaimer - The views expressed in this article are Jeevan’s alone and do not reflect the views of his employer.

Co-Author: ? CoachVikram is an Executive Presence Coach who supports CXOs and senior leaders to make an impact, influence, and lead with ease. With a unique approach that combines mindfulness and executive presence, he helps senior leaders tap into their inner strengths and cultivate a positive, thriving organizational culture. Connect with him to start building a powerful executive presence and achieve remarkable success in your professional journey.

References

●???? Seligman, (2011). The PERMA Model: A Scientific Theory of Happiness - Bild

●???? Gallup, (2017). State of the American Workplace. Gallup

●???? Jeremy Adam Smith. (2013). Five Ways to Cultivate Gratitude at Work. Greater Good Magazine

●???? University of Berkeley, (2012). Greater Good Science Center.

●???? Reinforcement theory, B.F. Skinner (1948)

●???? Gratitude in Leadership , Dr. Tasha Eurich (2013)