Good leaders are thankful for the talents and efforts of team members and find a way to tell them so.
They don’t believe that expressing gratitude makes them look vulnerable or signals to others that they are in any way weak and need help.
Instead, they know that acknowledging others and sincerely thanking them for their contributions builds trust in relationships and motivates people to work harder. Team members who feel valued become more engaged and commit to doing their best work every day.
The best leaders go out of their way to articulate their gratefulness directly to team members when they feel it.
In addition to telling people directly how much their contribution means to them, leaders often recognize and thank team members at the start of meetings and look for other opportunities to publicly acknowledge people in a variety of mediums, channels, and situations.
Some leaders like to show their appreciation through small tokens or symbolic gestures such as buying a meal, sending a handwritten note, gifting a book, granting a workplace benefit, or sharing a keepsake.
While these stamps of appreciation are typically well-received, they can become commonplace and lose their impact when leaders turn to them repeatedly.
Finding a novel expression of gratitude that truly lands with others is not always obvious.
So, here’s a winner that many great leaders use to make a big impact, and that takes very little time. All a leader needs is some time for reflection, a thesaurus of expressions, and a piece of paper.
The next time you want to express your gratitude for a team member, consider giving them a comprehensive list of their strengths, as you see them, simply but powerfully articulated on a sheet of paper.
The only prose you need to accompany the list goes something like this: “When I think of you and the many contributions, talents, and skills you bring to our team, these are your strengths that stand out to me.”
Make a thorough record of their many strengths in a list format and stop there. Place this catalog of strengths in a card, leave it on their desk, or mail it to their home.
Learning how a leader views their strengths can be an amazing experience for a team member and expresses the leader’s gratitude like very few other expressions can.
Who would go out of their way to reflect upon and jot down their many strengths but a leader who was exceedingly grateful for them?
Don’t be surprised if the team member not only saves the note but pulls it out to read it whenever they need a boost of confidence or validation about their value. Genuine appreciation can make a world of difference to team members.
Sometimes, all it takes is for a leader to put their gratitude into a word list that people will find pleasure in.
