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Leadership through Gratitude

Today being the 4th of July, it is a day for Americans to show our gratitude for what we have. This country is far from perfect, and is still pursuing liberty and happiness for all people. But it is a land of opportunity, resource, and abundance. We truly are blessed with so much, and hopefully we keep moving towards true equality.

Showing gratitude towards colleagues and those you serve is also an incredible way to build community. True gratitude cannot consist of false platitudes, or general statements of appreciation to everyone, but true and genuine gratitude for a job well done and progress being made. I had a leader in my building that did not invest the time to get to know the staff beyond the administration. The staff knew this, and felt disconnected from him. What they wanted was to be noticed for their daily efforts, and to be known for who they were as people. This leader instead would do periodic big events for the staff that would take a lot of time and effort on his part, and the staff appreciated the end result, but didn't really believe that it was a true sign of gratitude.

The person who replaced him came from our building, knew this concern, and so made it his mission to build community and connect with people. We would still do whole staff lunches for teacher appreciation, and there would be messages to the entire staff thanking them for their efforts. What this leader did differently was get to know the people and what made them tick. When a message would come in to him from the community regarding a staff member, he would make sure he acknowledged that person to their face. For each staff member's birthday, he (and our second in command) would bring that person a food or work-safe drink of their choice. At the risk of making other people feel bad they didn't get recognized, he would publicly recognize staff in front of the staff. Generally these people are our top 20%, and they deserve recognition.

The people who are recognized are generally humble, and don't love the attention, but appreciate this anyway. This lets them know they are valued, and feel more a part of the community. For those who are not recognized, it generally does one of two things. One is it motivates them to earn recognition, and through that they improve. Or, it leads to them ultimately leaving the organization, which strengthens what you have. Gratitude done right, sincere and genuine, leads to great results and should not be shied away from.

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