Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” Zig Ziglar
It really matters what lens we look through in life. How we walk through this life, sends a ripple effect.
For ourselves and for others.
Who you are being, not so much what you do, shapes the world around you. We are so powerful.
As much as we all would like to believe that we consciously possess the unconscious consistency of Gratitude in our daily lives, so much of our time is spent in the “doing” of life, and it’s easy to let Gratitude slip to the back of the mind.
Gratitude is the glue that connects us all. That supports abundance, love, joy for all of us, as a collective whole.
If there is a scarcity of Gratitude in our lives, then we are missing out on one of the greatest gifts we are given as a human.
One of my mantras is “give to give”. If we come from a giving mindset, without the underlying desire and expectation of a return on investment, then the true magic of Gratitude can live into existence.
One area of business I am particularly passionate about and have had over 16 years of direct experience in is how companies hire — not just the big guys, but the little guys, the single founder with 2 engineers, the two founders with a team of 37, the mid-size companies in hyper-growth.
Ensuring Gratitude is built into the foundation of a companies’ culture and Talent Acquisition Strategy is one of the top 2 ways Founders and business leaders can ensure their current and future employees are not only taken care of but happily and healthily retained.
Hustle With Gratitude
Hiring can feel like a side hustle, most of the time, since it generally is an additive to each business hiring member’s job at the company. You are expected to hire and hire well, with or without training, the right skills or knowledge.
You do your best.
I’ve seen it for years. You do your best with the knowledge and process given to you, on top of the job you are 100% accountable for for the company. That’s a big ask and sometimes, gratitude can be forgotten as you hustle through it.
In the hustle of hiring the best in the shortest time and least expense to the business, you try to make the most of your workday as well — including meeting company goals. Sometimes, it’s too easy to forget why you’re doing what you’re doing. We go into “go mode”.
Sound familiar? I can raise my hand to that. I have found myself caught up in it as well at times.
It’s natural, especially for the business hiring leaders who are asked to hire the success of their companies — their employees.
In the hunt to win, most business hiring leaders are so consumed with achieving the results that they tend to forget the most important factor:
We are all in this together.
Without them, there is no me.
Without me, there is no them.
They forget that Gratitude is one of the greatest influencers to if their company succeeds or fails. Where their employees are happy and thriving, or not.
Here are a Few easily implementable and powerful Ways to Integrate Gratitude into your Culture, and sustain it as you scale.
· Take an active approach to ensure Gratitude is a value within your companies’ culture.
· Proactively, and clearly, integrate Gratitude as an actionable value into your hiring process through strategic communication across all teams.
· See every human on the other side of that table (the candidates), as an honor to be with them. That it’s an honor that they gave you the time out of their lives, as opposed to the mindset that they are here for you or that they’re disposable.
· The act and experience of hiring is a HUMAN experience, not a numbers or resume game. People are not their resumes.
· These are lives we are talking about — yours and theirs. You’re in this together whether you chose to work together or not. The only way you succeed is of others succeed as well.
· You only have options because they chose to say yes to you. They accepted to interview with you. They didn’t have to, but they did. You both chose each other.
· Don’t assume every one of your business hiring leaders believe in Gratitude or bring it to the interviews.
· Create a communication strategy companywide to ensure each and every employee embodies it (and no, that is not by email, a phone call, Slack or text). The biggest misunderstandings happen when assumption and disconnected communication styles are allowed.
· Look around often — It’s only because of other humans that you have the opportunity to realize your own goals.
· And lastly, but never least — when we see our own human journey as connected to everyone else’s, through the lens of “WE”, there is no other way to be but in Gratitude.
WE is where ME, MY and I thrive.
I, ME and MY cannot thrive alone.
More than having Gratitude, to consciously make it a part of our lives and the lives of everyone around us, and within our hiring practices,is the only way to ensure you build a company of WE employees who will have gratitude for you and everyone around them.
WE minded humans thrive with WE minded humans.
ME minded humans…..well…..you can insert the rest.
No great leader, no human, ever achieved anything alone. Ever.
Today, what can you do to create Gratitude in your business? How can you be the leader that leads with Gratitude and shows your current and future employees what it means. Bring it to your personal life.
Just one action will send a ripple effect farther than you can see.
What kind of ripple effect are you making? What ripple affect do you want to make? It’s all up to you.