Embracing Gratitude

FountainBlue’s November 5 Front Line Managers Online meeting was on the topic of ‘Embracing Gratitude’. My thanks also to our panelists for their participation. We are grateful for our wise and dynamic panelists for today’s Front Line Managers Online program, on the topic of ‘Embracing Gratitude’. Below is a compilation of their advice and best practices around gratitude.

Thinking, speaking and gratitude is not always easy, but there are many benefits when you do it well.

• Acts of gratitude tend to build networks, relationships and understanding, which benefit all.
• Gratitude positively impacts culture and therefore discretionary/volunteer activities or engagement, retention, recruitment and development.
• Gratitude is a key ingredient of a positive, growth-driven mindset, which helps build resilience and agility. 
• Virtuous cycles of gratitude may lead to increased respect, camaraderie and trust, as well as a groundswell of positive energy and good will.
• Habitually embracing gratitude as a practice helps build self awareness and centeredness and appreciation for the little things.

How you show gratitude really matters.

• Be authentic and sincere when sharing your gratitude. Platitudes and empty praise will not be seen or felt like gratitude.
• Be specific about what you’re grateful for.
• Be authentic, be human, feel grateful when you’re expressing your gratitude.

Our panel challenged us to see the up-sides for having a grateful mindset and challenged us to:

• Feel grateful for the challenges you face, and make them into learning opportunities. 
• Try keeping a gratitude journal, to document things you’re grateful for each day, and to frame the way you interact with others around you and the circumstances facing you.
• Embrace gratitude as a way to bring joy and wisdom and perspective to yourself and others.
• Meet unexpected and unwelcome input and feedback in an open-minded, gracious and curious way, so that you may receive deep insights and learnings. 
• You can’t control many things which happen to you, but you can choose to more actively manage the voice-in-your-head so that it helps you be more grateful, more positive.
• Make someone feel appreciated, rather than just going through the motions expressing gratitude. (There’s a difference between experiential vs conceptual gratitude.)

Our panel experienced their fair share of challenges in these uncertain times. But they consistently embraced any dark experiences with a lens of gratitude, and inspired us to believe that we can too.

Advertisement