Make Every Day Thanksgiving!

I was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner this year. Before having the turkey feast, the host encouraged all the guests to share something they were grateful for. Being very green to American culture, I was not prepared for the self-disclosure. But when I was expressing how thankful I was for the things that happened this past year, I felt enlightened and fulfilled by the itsy-bitsy.

When I expressed my gratitude for being invited to the dinner, the hosts smiled brightly and gently at me. All of a sudden, the expressions of gratitude lit up the house. It made me wonder: Would gratitude do the same magic to the workplace?

The answer is yes. Studies have found that leaders who expressed gratitude created an impression of selflessness, and this indirectly led to higher follower satisfaction, more helping behaviors toward the leader and lower intent to leave [1]. In addition, followers thought leaders who expressed gratitude were more trustworthy, and therefore the followers trusted these leaders’ guidance and were more engaged in work [2].

Furthermore, there is another study demonstrating how a succinct expression of gratitude from a leader can change followers’ performance at work. Adam Grant, an outstanding organizational behavior researcher and a popular author, conducted research to investigate how the expression of gratitude affects listeners’ behavior. In the study, Grant and his colleague had a director of annual giving visit a fundraising center in a university and thank the fundraisers in person. Half of the fundraisers interacted with the director, whereas the other half didn’t even hear about the visit.

The director told the fundraisers, “I am very grateful for your hard work. We sincerely appreciate your contributions to the university.” Fundraisers who had heard these two simple lines of gratitude from the director made more phone calls to raise money in the following week, despite the fact that they themselves were not going to gain any financial benefit from those calls. (Fundraisers got paid equally —regardless of the number of phone calls made. No commissions nor bonuses were contingent on the calls either.)

Moreover, fundraisers reported that they felt valued and appreciated by managers, so they were more devoted to their work [3]. The magic of expressing gratitude has nothing to do with proving one’s work abilities or gaining monetary rewards. It’s purely psychological – being valued.

I believe everyone can experience how gratitude changes them or the people around them (For a great example, read this brief, real story from the military: [4]). While interacting with your supervisor, colleagues or even subordinates, don’t withhold your gratitude. Let the magic go on! And we can make every day Thanksgiving!

Reference

[1] Ritzenhöfer, L., Brosi, P., Spörrle, M., & Welpe, I. M. (2017). Satisfied with the Job, But Not with the Boss: Leaders’ Expressions of Gratitude and Pride Differentially Signal Leader Selfishness, Resulting in Differing Levels of Followers’ Satisfaction. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-18.

[2] Liao, Z., Wu, L., Song, Z., Li, X., & Liu, Y. (2015). Leader-member exchange process: The mediating roles of state gratitude and momentary trust in leader. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2015, No. 1, p. 13871). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

[3] Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946-955.

[4] Buchanan, Charles (2018). Leadership Tip of the Week: Thank You.