The Most Successful Leaders Give Thanks All Year Long

I was talking with a friend yesterday who mentioned that before everyone left the office for the holidays, she went around to each of her employees and personally thanked them for all they had done. She remarked how positively her team reacted to this simple gesture, so much so that it really surprised her.

It's not surprising to me. In fact, going out of your way not only to thank, but to materially help peers and subordinates is the foundation of what great leaders do. In a broad body of research I conducted several years ago (for the book The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers), we asked managers at all levels to what extent did they agree or disagree with the following statement: "I focus as much or more on the success of those around me even more than my own success." Amazingly, when separating those who had accomplished extraordinary things in their careers, they strongly agreed with this statement nearly four times as often as the average respondent.

Upon reflection, this is not really a surprising finding. Although there are always exceptions, those who achieve the most in their careers are not the ones who claw their way to the top on the bludgeoned backs of their peers and coworkers. Rather, they are carried to the top on the shoulders of the hundreds of people they have positively impacted throughout their career. Positively impacted without the expectation that they would ever get anything in return. Year round, they cast good deed after good deed out onto the waters. And over time, these good deeds pay returns many times over.

So when taking the time to stop and genuinely thank your employees during the holidays, consider what would happen if you carried that attitude with you throughout the year. If you started to focus more on making those around you successful, and worried less about yourself. If you follow this course, you employees will be much more productive, and you will find over time that each year you have more and more to be thankful for.

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Comments

[FatherBill]

Very interesting and appropriate.