December 1, 2022 | By David M. Wagner

This post felt fitting to accompany Thanksgiving leftovers!

If you’re anything like me, gratitude feels more natural at home than at work. I was raised to say "thank you" when someone did something nice for you and to send thank-you notes for gifts. But I'll be honest...in my early leadership experiences, I often struggled to show appreciation to my teammates.

This was especially true of acknowledging people for “everyday” contributions. I’m ashamed to admit I adhered somewhat to the Don Draper philosophy of management: I reserved showing gratitude for extraordinary effort and results.

But I was missing something important: our human need to feel seen and appreciated. We need to know we’re valued for the roles we play. When we’re not appreciated, we tend to feel insecure in our positions, unmotivated, and unhappy at work.

This does not mean leaders should fall into the trap of handing out "participation awards" for everyone. That would be patronizing.

Big successes and exceptional performance are obvious candidates for recognition. But so is consistent execution. And reliability. And bringing a positive attitude to the team’s work.

There are lots of ways to show someone “everyday” appreciation. Write them a personalized note. Call attention to their consistent contributions in front of their peers. Use whatever tools are at your disposal for offering awards or choice role assignments. Go out of your way to say how thankful you are for their hard work. (With this caveat: showing gratitude in small ways is not a replacement for rewarding outstanding performers with promotions, raises, bonuses, etc.!)

Whatever your method, keep these tips in mind:

• Make the message heartfelt and personal. Everyone on your team plays an important role. (Otherwise, why are they on the team?) Look for ways to acknowledge individuals’ contributions to the mission and how the team would be worse off without them.

• Customize the delivery to individual preferences. How do your team members want to be recognized (publicly, privately, with a "thank you," with a day off)? If you’re not sure, just ask. Your next goal-setting, performance review, or other sync-up meeting is a great opportunity.

• Practice, practice, practice. Recognizing others’ value gets easier with practice. Look for opportunities to make showing appreciation a habit (while still being heartfelt and personal!). In a previous role, I developed a routine of sending each member of my team a brief note on their birthday thanking them for their unique role and contributions to the mission.

How might you make meaningful recognition of others a regular occurrence, for you personally and for your team?

Finally, as a bonus, being grateful for others not only improves their engagement and our team culture. It also makes us (the appreciators) happier. So hopefully without sounding selfish, thank you for reading, and for being a mission-driven leader!