On this Thanksgiving season, remember to have Gratitude and Kindness at the workplace

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Gratitude is the one emotion that serve as antidote to Fear and Anger, let’s activate Gratitude on this Thanksgiving season, not only with your family, loved ones, and your friends, but also with your colleagues at work, at school, anywhere.? And don’t simply do it on this season; but do it every day.? Every day, when you wake up and are getting ready to start your day, take a moment to see what’s right, what you can appreciate, have your brain think about 1, 2, or 3 things you can be grateful for, whether is something small from many years ago, or a greater and more recent moment, try to re-live those moments and start your day in a more joyful mental and emotional place.

Tony Robbins says: “You can't be angry and grateful at the same time. You can't be fearful and grateful at the same time. You certainly can't be jealous and grateful at the same time. The real gift of gratitude is that it eliminates these negative feelings and replaces them with peace and joy.”

Doing that practice could also help train your brain to focus on finding the hidden blessings behind a “perceived” negative experience and overcome that potential negative bias.? Perhaps a mistake a work sent you into a spiral of negative thoughts, but later, you realized that there was a learning experience after that mistake.

Around 2009, a few years after Google brought Laszlo Bock as head of HR, they started a research project named: “Google’s Project Oxygen,” a multiyear research initiative on managers and leadership.? Professor David DeSteno, who wrote about the results of this research project found: “when people feel grateful, they’re willing to devote more effort to help others, to be loyal even at a cost to themselves, and to split profits equally with partners rather than take more money for themselves.” This means the gratitude is not only good for you, the person saying thanks, but also for your team.

Amy Gallo, a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, provides with two (2) clear research examples that identified why you should express gratitude:

1)????? “Telling your colleague that you feel grateful for them also increases their willingness to help, likely because they feel valued.” This according a series of studies from Francesca Gino and Adam Grant, in which students’ participants in the study who had received a letter with acknowledgement and a grateful note, compare to those who didn’t receive it, were twice as likely to help again.

2)????? “Simply feeling gratitude can have also a positive impact on the culture you work in.” According to another study in which participants, during a two-week period, kept a journal of just showing a chronicle of their days, while others were encouraged to write down why they were grateful; “those in the latter group reported greater self-control and, according to their coworkers, subsequently engaged in less rudeness, gossip, and ostracism at work.”

Amy also provides a guide on how to express your gratitude at work.? She mentions that your words and the way you convey them carry significant weight. A simple "thank you" is a decent starting point but given how frequently we conclude emails with that phrase, its impact has likely diminished. Instead, aim to be specific about what you're grateful for, elaborating on why it holds meaning for you and highlighting the qualities you appreciate in the other person.

The optimal time to express your gratitude is promptly after the act that triggered the positive impact. While it's never too late to say thank you, it's important to avoid doing so excessively, as this can diminish the words' sincerity and significance.

There are different ways you can delivery your thankful message, you can use digital channels like emails, texts, MS Teams/Slack messages, or even written notes, but in my opinion a phone call, video or voice, can be more effective in expressing gratitude.

Digital communication channels like Slack messages, emails, or texts are all viable options. Personally, I find these forms particularly valuable as I maintain a dedicated folder in my email to store compliments or thank you notes, which I revisit during challenging times. However, consider the impact of a handwritten note, which demonstrates an extra effort to convey your thoughts. Additionally, a phone call or video call can be effective for expressing gratitude, although it does place some pressure on the recipient to respond immediately.

Regardless of the medium you choose, dedicate a few moments to reflect on the aspects you're grateful for and how their actions impacted you. This will enable you to express your appreciation with specificity and sincerity.? In a nutshell, talk about what you appreciate and why you appreciate it!

When anxiety is high, kindness comes along so well.? As an emerging leader, being kind to your employees will help you enhance employee retention, establishing a healthy work culture, increase employee trust and cooperation, and on the long run have better results on productivity.

Andrew Swinand, CEO of various leadership research groups, states “when you engage in acts of kindness, it boosts serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters in the brain that promotes feelings of satisfactions and well-being. It also releases endorphins, your body’s natural painkillers.” Andrew provides with a framework you can utilize to be kinder at work, and they are:

1)????? Practice radical self-care. Taking care of yourself first, physically, mentally, and emotionally, has to be the first step you take in order to be a valuable team member.

2)????? Do your job. If you take care of yourself, you will then be able to show up at your best, showing up on time, doing your best, and provide your best self.

3)????? Reach out to others with intention. Practice active listening when you meet your colleagues, whether in person or virtually, and be genuine for caring about their lives.

4)????? Recognize and acknowledge people. Once you start understanding your colleagues better, you can genuinely have interactions in which you care about their values, their qualities and develop stronger connections.

5)????? Be conscientious with your feedback. Kindness is about caring and offering feedback for the betterment of the person receiving it, which will turn into improved performance.

On the book Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success, Gary Vee mentions: “I think how kind a person is to others is a direct reflection of how kind they are to themselves. When we’re always judging ourselves, it’s easy to judge others…but when we show ourselves compassion, respect, and kindness, those are the things we give to the people around us as well. Be kind and bring happiness to others… you’ll be shocked by what it brings to you.”

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Have you put in practice gratefulness and kindness at work, at school? If so, how have you done and what results have you gotten? If you have any thoughts or experiences, you'd like to share, leave me a comment below. I’m always eager to learn from one another and we grow as leaders. I hope =this newsletter has inspired you to learn more about leadership.

And remember, as I always say: “be vulnerable, be brave and dare to lead.”? Subscribe =>here to get all future editions of this newsletter.