Live Gratitude

November is the time of the year when we often reflect and express gratitude. I find myself thinking about the people in my life. I’m extremely grateful for my family and friends. I am so fortunate to have my mom, siblings, husband, and children in my life. This year I am especially grateful for my baby granddaughter who brings joy to our family every day. I miss those who have passed away, who have made a meaningful impact on me, and will always have a special place in my heart.  

As many people do, I also reflect on my work and my “work family.” 

I am grateful to have worked for 20 years with the people and clients of Value Capture, a company built on values I hold dearly, that I get to live every day through the course of my work. It’s not a coincidence the word “Value” is in our name.  

Value Capture was founded in 2005 with former Alcoa CEO and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. He brought with him the leadership framework he discovered as he led  Alcoa to be one of the safest organizations in the world. It is the same we use to help other leaders to integrate into their own organizations. 

The foundation of the framework is human values. Paul O’Neill believed and proved that for an organization to have the potential to be habitually excellent, everyone in the organization can answer “yes” to three questions every day. Those questions are: 

1. Am I treated with dignity and respect by every person I encounter without regard to race, gender, educational attainment, rank, or any other distinguishing feature? 
   
   
2. Am I given the tools, training, resources, encouragement, etc. to make a contribution to the organization that also adds meaning to my life? 
   
   
3. Am I recognized for that contribution by someone whose opinion matters to me? 

If I think about them carefully, the third question starts with gratitude. Recognition is an expression of gratitude. Gratitude to customers, and every person in the organization. Everyday gratitude. Mindful gratitude. Practiced gratitude. Lived gratitude shared openly through recognition of others.  

What does it take to live gratitude in the workplace? 

1. Learn. You first must be mindful of the contributions that others, coworkers, direct reports, and leaders make every day to the greater good for customers and the organization. Be curious and discover how people are making a difference to customers and coworkers.  
   
   
2. Give gratitude a voice. Speak up. Be explicit. Express gratitude through recognition of others.  
   
   
3. Deliberately design systems. Let your actions reflect the gratitude you have for the people in the organization. Create the conditions for collaborative behaviors in the workplace; one where people can learn together and celebrate each other. 

I am inspired by recent observations of these behaviors while working in a healthcare setting. 

• Leaders carve out “go and see” time to learn from people and their work in different areas of the organization. Leaders show up, introduce themselves, and engage the staff regarding their work and what they’re improving. They ask thoughtful questions, truly listen, and thank the workers for their contributions. 

 As we walked away from one of these, the leader turned and said, “This  is what fills my cup.”  It struck me that gratitude can often be bidirectional.  

The leader really enjoys learning from others and the great things that are happening within the organization. I was wondering if the leader even realized how much impact was made on the staff by being present, listening, learning, honoring the work, and showing gratitude. The staff members are proud of their work to bring value to their customers and appreciate that the leader noticed. 

• Caregivers worked as a multi-disciplinary team to understand their process. They collaborated in a way that was safe to identify the challenges they are having and consider together what they could do to improve the time patients have to wait. Improving the process results show their gratitude for each other as well as for the patients. 
  
  
•  At a daily huddle, a team member thanked a coworker for their help today. Others were planning for the next day and offered support in parts of the department that needed it. 

Leaders can show gratitude in their actions by working to create the conditions that allow people to answer “yes” to the three questions. They model the way by demonstrating respect for everyone and correcting situations when disrespectful behavior occurs, and provide people with training, materials, equipment, and time to do their work. Leaders can guide people to remove wasteful steps in work processes so that team members can focus their energies on activities that add meaning to their lives and creates value for their customers.  

Leaders can ensure that operating systems allow people to have opportunities to learn from and recognize others. Let’s face it, people show up every day to do a great job at work for their customers. They make it easy to be grateful. How do we design our own work to ensure we are voicing our gratitude in the workplace? 

 There’s no better time than November to reflect on how we live gratitude every day and fill our own cups by recognizing others.