Howdy folks! Before you dive into this week’s topic about what you NEED before you can be a success, I’ve got some great news! My beautiful and super-talented wife, Shannon Jamail, has published her newest book, The Retreat Leaders Playbook (hmmm is this a copyright name issue here?). I’ve watched her labor over this book using over a decade of experience. She’s poured all her knowledge from being a successful international retreat host in the book. Pop by Amazon or on our Retreat Ranch website to learn more. Speaking of S-U-C-C-E-S-S, let’s dive on in!
The Secret Ingredient Everyone Needs to Be a Success
A person must be grateful before they can be a success.
Uh oh, don’t get nervous about this being a woowoo post. I truly live by this and IT REALLY DOES WORK.
Being grateful can often seem like a supplemental leadership quality, but it is not. An attitude of gratitude enables an outlook that is grounded in perspective, thoughtfulness, and a strong command of your feelings.
For example, leaders are tasked with managing employee morale. Their job is to hold their team members accountable by teaching them team members to be grateful before they can be successful and happy, even if they are not necessarily content.
If you aren’t grateful for the business you own or the job you have and even your team, you’ll be unsuccessful in truly managing the human component of your job. Given that robots have yet to take over the world, managing human capital is a necessity for true benefit realization in the business world.
Being A Grateful Leader Removes Rose-color Tinted Glasses
It might seem like an ironic heading, but a grateful leader has a clear understanding of the good and bad aspects of the job, company, and team members. Here’s a quick case study from my book, The Sales Leaders Gameplan, that provides some context to this outlook.
When a team complains about a workload increase due to others being laid off or people leaving the company, the leader should:
1) discuss how each individual now has the opportunity to step up even more than before
2) challenge them to own the job—not in a cheesy ―you can do it cheer, but in a real tone that says this is what it will take from the team and each person has to decide if they are committed and willing.
To improve morale the leader must change the team members’ perspective. This is not a cold or insensitive approach; it is an empathetic approach that says the feelings the person is feeling are real, but may not be necessary, helpful or have a purpose. The leader’s job is to give the members of the team hope and understanding, not sympathy.
What is the takeaway? Difficult times do not necessitate poor team morale; the lack of gratefulness does. Leaders in the middle (LIMs) are the only ones uniquely positioned to assess their team and current challenges to bring about change.
Gratitude Enables Positivity, A Cornerstone for Every Successful Leader
You can’t fake positivity. In fact, you’ll more than likely isolate yourself from others if/when you try it. When leaders take on a positive attitude about everyone and everything, they’re building a winning corporate culture. This outlook should include you as a leader AND an individual, each of your team members and even the company.
By adopting a positive attitude, the individuals win, and the company can win again (or more than they currently are). This is a victory that will only come back to the individuals in the long run.
Always remember that every decision is a choice. In my business there have been plenty of times when ‘the shit hit the fan’ and my first course of action? Find my grateful heart and the positive way to learn and look at it. In all situations you can stay and complain and be miserable, or you can leave and hope for something better, or better yet you can truly change your perspective, be grateful and move forward with a purpose.
See ya next week!
