Being Consistently Thankful
My goal had been to share leadership messages on a consistent regular basis. Alas, that has not happened. Yet the word that pops out at me as I wrote that first sentence was “consistent.”
As healthcare leaders we focus on consistency: consistently rounding on patients, consistently making sure the bed is in the low position and the siderails are up, consistently checking the 5 R’s when giving medications, consistently introducing ourselves to patients and explaining what we are about to do before we do it, consistently punching in on time so your peers can go home with their families. I am sure you can think of a myriad of other “consistent” behaviors you expect of both yourself and your employees.
Yet, there is one consistent practice I think we often leave until the holiday that occurs every year in the US on the last Thursday of the month: Thanksgiving. Thankfulness and gratitude can be such an elusive and almost ethereal word. We often say our grace/blessing before we eat… but it is said in a hurried manner almost by rote. Don’t get me wrong – I have done that more times than I can count. However, we may be missing the point of gratitude and true thankfulness for the food that is on our table.
So, you ask me, what does this have to do with leadership? As usual, I’m happy to share my thoughts. I skimmed a short article last night in Linkedin on the two words that will help you to be successful as a leader. The two words…? You guessed it. THANK YOU. How many times do you sincerely tell your employees thank you? This, too, should become a consistent practice. Because, as one of my high school teachers used to say, “Practice makes permanent.” Notice she did not say “perfect.” She explained to us we could consistently practice bad behaviors and we would have those behaviors embedded into our everyday lives.
So, let’s finetune even more explicitly what thankfulness can mean in the workplace for a leader. Many of you receive results on employee engagement surveys from your staff. One of the questions that often scores low is “feeling appreciated by my boss.” How can we make the consistent practice of showing appreciation and thankfulness to our employees? I worked with a wonderful nursing director who often said after a difficult conversation or activity, “I appreciate you.” I always walked away from the conversation glowing. While it was a humorous shock to find out he said it to other leaders beyond me, I found myself wanting to emulate his practice of showing thankfulness for the tenacity and work it takes to change a culture.
Let’s bring everything together and have some action items so this does not become just another email you read and delete. Here are some practices for the rest of 2020. Hopefully you will get so used to doing them, some will become habits:
Start a gratitude journal – every day write down one thing you are thankful for. It can be as simple as “clean crisp sheets at night” to something bigger like “being able to get my dream job.”
Practice thanking your staff DAILY. Put two pebbles or paperclips in your left pocket at the beginning of the day. When you tell someone thank you, move that pebble/paperclip to your right pocket. Don’t leave work until you have moved both pebbles/paperclips. (PS: This is a good family exercise too).
Send a simple thank you note to your staff’s home for a job well done. Be specific with what you appreciate: not just for coming to work, but for coming to work and caring for COVID patients all day with PPE that is aggravating to wear; for caring for the difficult patient who no one wants to care for; for taking extra care to terminally clean a patient’s room after discharge.
Slow down driving, biking, or walking to work, the mailbox, or in the grocery store and pay attention to something that makes you grateful: the wind blowing, beautiful flowers, green grass, an elderly couple helping each other, a child’s giggle when playing with their siblings or a puppy.
And now here’s my homework for the rest of 2020 and into 2021: being more consistent in sharing my leadership messages with those of you who inspire me to do the work that I love: being a trusted advisor and coach to leaders so that they can perform above and beyond their peers.
I can assure you, as you consistently practice one or more of these simple exercises of gratitude and thankfulness, you will find your world seems a bit brighter and your step seems a little lighter.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me if I can assist you in achieving your leadership goals.
