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Bringing the power of gratitude into the workplace
Taking the time to consciously note people and things you are grateful for can make a huge difference to individual well-being, team dynamics, and institutional health
Gratitude. The word is derived from the Latin word gratia which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context and culture). The practice of gratitude is the habitual noticing and appreciating the positive aspects of your life.
Gratitude might be directed toward people, like your friends and family, for their role in your life or the love and support you get from them. You might feel gratitude toward your pets. You might feel a rush of gratitude when you look at the sunset, the ocean, or a mountain. Perhaps you felt grateful the first time you hugged your loved ones again after a long trip away.
Maybe you felt grateful when a colleague helped you when you needed support at work, or when your sister called to check in when you were having a bad day. You might be grateful for experiences, opportunities, or important and unimportant events at work. The opportunities to feel gratitude are endless – if you can learn to notice them.
The effects of gratitude
Scientists have measured the brain activity of people during the process of feeling gratitude. They found that gratitude activates multiple brain regions and lights up parts of the brain’s reward pathways. In short, the experience of gratitude can help boost the production of serotonin, which regulates our moods and contributes to happiness, and dopamine, our brain’s pleasure chemical.
Research shows that gratitude is strongly associated with almost all aspects of well-being and even boosts organizational health and culture. Gratitude helps people to feel more positive emotions, cherish good experiences, deal with adversity, and, when expressed to others, build stronger relationships.
The practice of gratitude also boosts physical health and longevity. For example, one study of over 70,000 women who were monitored for over 10 years shows that those who scored highest on an optimism questionnaire had a significantly lower risk of death from heart attacks (38%) and strokes (39%).
Another study found that regular gratitude journaling resulted in more optimism and a general sense of happiness, and longer and better quality sleep – the study participants reported feeling more refreshed in the mornings.
“Collaboration is a necessary behavior to achieve relational and organizational goals and gratitude can support creating a more collaborative work environment.”
What about the workplace?
When it comes to work, a recent study shows that practicing gratitude relates to fewer workplace mistreatment incidents and that it boosts helping behaviors. That is, the willingness and interest in helping one another. Collaboration is a necessary behavior to achieve relational and organizational goals and gratitude can support creating a more collaborative work environment.
Make gratitude a practice
To realize the benefits of gratitude for yourself and your team, you need to turn it into a practice that works for you – to create and reinforce the habit of noticing the positive. The good news is that a wealth of research shows that you can train your brain to more regularly focus on the positive, or the things you’re grateful for. Here are a few ideas.
Developing your gratitude
This practice was popularized by two psychologists, Robert A Emmons and Michael E McCullough of the University of Miami. In one of their most well-known studies, they asked participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on various assigned topics. One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. A second group wrote about daily things that aggravated or irritated them, and a third group wrote about general events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative).
After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of frustration. This is just one of many studies that paved the way for research on gratitude.
Here are the instructions:
- Start with a journal, diary, notebook, or just a piece of paper, and commit to trying this out daily for at least a week.
- Choose a time of day when you’re most likely to have five minutes to spare to think about your day and reflect on your emotions.
- Write down 3-5 things that you’re grateful for that day. Gratitude can be found in the small moments: the taste of your coffee that morning, or the barista’s friendly smile while handing it to you. Focus on the good things that happened to you on that particular day. The sentence could start with, “Today I am grateful for….” or “I appreciate…”
Fostering a culture of gratitude
Expressing appreciation to colleagues, employees, and partners not only strengthens professional relationships but also enhances the overall work atmosphere. For example, in teams, studies show that expressed gratitude can foster increased stress resilience, collaboration, and team creativity.
First, make it a habit to acknowledge and thank individuals for their contributions, both big and small. This can be done through verbal recognition, written notes, or during team meetings. You might also implement a ‘gratitude board’ in the workplace where employees can post notes of appreciation for their peers. You can also utilize company-wide communication channels to highlight and celebrate employee achievements and contributions regularly.
Using team meetings as opportunities for expressing gratitude can have a profound impact on team dynamics and morale. Here’s how:
- Begin or end meetings with a ‘gratitude round,’ where each participant shares something they are grateful for in their work or personal life.
- Encourage leaders to model this behavior, demonstrating genuine appreciation for team efforts and individual contributions.
- Incorporate gratitude moments into performance reviews and one-on-one meetings to ensure that recognition is a consistent part of your feedback culture.
Incorporating gratitude into your leadership practice is more than a feel-good exercise; it is a strategic approach that can lead to measurable improvements in organizational health and performance. By starting with a gratitude journal, expressing appreciation regularly, and integrating gratitude into meetings, executives can create a positive work environment that fosters collaboration, trust, and sustained success.
Embrace the power of gratitude and watch as it transforms your leadership and your organization.
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