Leading with Gratitude

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week—responsibly, I’m sure—I was reflecting on the value of showing gratitude in leadership. 

Gordon Bethune, the former CEO of Continental Airlines, offers one of my favorite examples of this in his New York Times Corner Office interview:

“If I had a flight at 2, I’d probably never get to the airport later than 12:30. I’d spend an hour just going down to the crew room. That’s how I met a lot of people. That’s how I was very visible. When you actually take the time to go over to somebody’s office and personally thank them — whether their office is in a cockpit of an airplane, or in a break room — that’s an actual manifestation of interest in them. You need to take the time to show the people around you who work for you that you’re interested in them. So I would schedule my time like that.”

Another example comes from Silicon Valley legend Bill Campbell, as described in Trillion Dollar Coach: 

“‘Bill would clap and cheer, give double fist pumps, he would get so excited!’ Phil Schiller recalls. ‘That's one of the biggest things I learned from Bill. Don't just sit your butt in the seat. Get up and support the teams, show the love for the work they are doing.’” 

What’s so awesome about those two examples is that the leader is going out of their way to show interest and appreciation for their teammates. And partly because it’s totally unnecessary, the teammates know that it’s sincere.

As a bonus, feeling grateful is also good for us as individuals. Arianna Huffington writes in Thrive: 

“What the foremost researchers in the field of gratitude, Robert Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Michael McCullough of the University of Miami, have established is that ‘a life oriented around gratefulness is the panacea for insatiable yearnings and life’s ills.’”