Note from Art: I’m getting a jump-start on my Thanksgiving post in the hope that you have the opportunity during this holiday-shortened work week to reach out and say “Thanks” to those that you have the privilege of leading and serving.
The Leader’s List of Thanks-Giving:
- Be grateful for your unique chance to serve others.
- Be thankful for the patience and forbearance that your colleagues and team-members show as you learn over time and through trial and error what it truly means to lead.
- Give thanks for your chance to learn from others.
- Pay honor to those that came before you and took the time to pass along their wisdom…even if you didn’t realize how valuable it was until much later.
- Be in awe of the opportunity that you have in front of you to positively impact lives in ways that few other jobs or professions provide.
- Be inspired to motivate, coach and teach those that invest valuable time in their lives and careers with you.
- Give thanks for the opportunity that you have to create value for your organization. You might not engineer new products or services, but the people that work for you enable others to perform their jobs creating or building or supporting at high levels.
- Be grateful that you were given or developed the patience to cope with the daily stresses and strains of leadership and to keep reminding yourself that it is all worth it in the end.
- Give thanks for your chance to participate in the journey of a lifetime.
- And most of all, just give thanks by speaking up and remembering that a well-placed, heartfelt “Thank you” is one of the most powerful and important of all leadership tools.
And yes, please accept my sincere Thank You for your readership and conversation. I am truly grateful for you.
-Art
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Leadership tools? Yes, of course. More importantly, human tools that leaders should use as part of their humanity they bring to work. Thanks for reminding us.
Fabulous reminder of the fact that being in a position of leadership is an honor. All leaders leave behind a legacy…this “Thanks-Giving” list should be the foundation of that legacy. Thank you for sharing. Jen
I’m grateful for all the things I’ve learned from you and your wonderful blog, Art. Thanks for passing on the wisdom so that we can all be better leaders.
Wally, Jen and Ajo, thanks so much for adding your thoughts. It is my pleasure to share! Best, Art
I enjoyed your post. Thank you for the refresher on humility. We have a lot to be thankful for. A great book on leadership that I just finished and learned a lot from is “Words for Warriors” by Ralph Puckett. I’m very thankful that this author shared his years of military leadership experience. It’s an amazing book!