Just Like a Banana, Gratitude Doesn’t Age Well
To inspire your team, find the time to acknowledge their work, contributions and achievements. This is especially true during a crisis.
Your farm is facing unprecedented turmoil. The coronavirus pandemic continues to deliver terrifying statistics and disruptions to daily life.
As a leader, your job is to keep hope alive and focus on gratitude, explain Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick, leadership coaches and authors of the new book, “Leading with Gratitude.”
“Many people need encouragement,” Elton explains. “Others don’t. But just about everyone performs better when they get it.”
2020: The Year of Gratitude
By showing more gratitude, you can bolster moral and profitability for your farm, Elton says. Here’s how:
- Make gratitude habitual. In the best workplaces, people feel praised every seven days, Elton explains. “Gratitude never gets old if it is aligned with the core values of the organization,” he says.
- Be specific with praise. You want the recipient to understand what behavior triggered your gratitude in order to repeat it. “Non-specific praise is actually disheartening for an employee, since it implies their manager has no idea of the unique value they bring to the team,” he says.
Avoid catch-all appreciation. Comments such as, “Thanks, everyone, for all your hard work,” or “You all make me proud,” will have little effect, Elton explains.
- Provide heartfelt and public appreciation. “Your gratitude should be expressed publicly and your criticism in private,” Elton says. “Gather people together. The team in attendance will learn as much or even more than the person being thanked.”
Look for moments to say a sincere thank you to someone important to you. Stay well, stay connected and most importantly, stay thankful.
To download a 5-minute gratitude plan to help inventory your blessings, visit AgWeb.com/gratitude-plan
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