The ROI of Expressing Gratitude in Business and at Work

Today, during the annual Thanksgiving Bread service at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady, a.k.a. UUSS (Joel and I are late-bloomer members – we joined 10 years ago so that our son Noah would have the exposure to congregational life that neither of us experienced during childhood), one of our past presidents rose during the sharing of Joys and Sorrows, and thanked our Reverend Priscilla for the wonderful things she said in a Daily Gazette story on Thanksgiving.  “Thank you for what you said in the article,” Past President said.  “You really captured what Unitarian Universalism is all about, and it was such a positive reflection on UUSS.”

Rev. Priscilla, standing next to the table of fall bounty that had been received in the form of various loaves of bread from our members (and that we were about to share), simply beamed, basking in the glow of the positive and public feedback.

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Here’s what Rev. Priscilla said in the article:

“Gratitude is an important part of our theology,” Richter said. “Who was it that said, ‘No man is an island?’ We are dependent on other people, loved ones, people who support us in any environment — our neighbors, our friends, the grocer, the fisherman. We exist because we are interdependent of others. And not only with others, but with ecological systems. So gratitude is foundational in our approach to the world and how we live in it. Thanksgiving is a big deal for us.”

Wouldn’t it be interesting to practice a version of Joys and Concerns regularly with our teams, to allow our leaders / colleagues to spontaneously and publicly express their gratitude, with its many levels of ROI and engagement, in business and at work?