The Energizing Power of Gratitude

I read this Thanksgiving post on CNN, which points to several university psychologists and a couple of popular authors in describing the power of gratitude. I had an experience with it a couple of weeks ago, too.

"I think I'm going to drop out of school," began the conversation with one of our students--a scholarship student with great creativity, an engaging personality, and a curious mind. "I just don't think I can continue. When I think of doing this for the rest of my career, I don't think it's for me. I used to wake up excited to go to classes, and now I wake up, and I don't even want to come."

As I pressed for more detail, it became clear that she had a number of concerns about how things were going in her classes, with classmates, and with faculty members.

"What is the most recent thing you can remember about college that you really enjoyed?" I asked.

As she answered, I transcribed her words on a piece of stationery. I handed her the sheet of paper.

"Your assignment," I said, "is to fill this sheet with statements of gratitude over the next week."

The details of the assignment were to write at least once a day, more if desired, and to express gratitude for specific things, events, and people. Additionally, she was to write at least two thank-you notes to members of the department--students or faculty, and give them.

One week later, the same student walked into my office again--burst in.

"It's working!" she exclaimed. "For three days now, I've woken up before my alarm, just excited to come learn and be with these people that I love so much. I just wanted to thank you for the assignment."

We visited for a few minutes more about the details, and I encouraged her to continue her gratitude journaling. As she was leaving, she said, "One more thing...can I do more than two thank-you notes?"

Taking the Fall

NFL organizations receive nearly constant scrutiny and media coverage, and I thought the developments for the New York Football Giants recently have been particularly interesting. The team has been for the past couple of years a league powerhouse, but has lost the last four games in a row, leading to much finger pointing and speculation about who is responsible and what should happen next.

When things go wrong, it is difficult to generate positive energy and be productive, perhaps one of the reasons that losing sometimes comes in bunches (the nice thing is that winning can, too). I imagine what it might be like to be a player, hearing all of the rumors, the blame, and then wondering if my teammates or coaches place responsibility on me. Then consider that there are 53 players and a handful of coaches that each may begin to feel that fear, and you can imagine what the climate of the office is. What can be done to diffuse the pressure, to create space for positive, creative, productive action?

Here is what the head coach said, as reported by Don Banks of Sports Illustrated:

"I thought it was perfectly clear, but let me express it so no longer does anyone else receive any type of blame,'' Coughlin said on Monday. "Let me start out by saying that I'm responsible for all of the decisions that are made with our football team. "The [red] zone decisions are my responsibility. They are nobody else's. No one else made a mistake. The quarterback did not make a mistake. The decision was mine.''

By taking the responsibility publicly and clearly, Coughlin is creating space for his players and coaches to work on things that will prepare them for the next games.

This kind of leadership really costs very little, but it may pay big dividends. Have you been in organizations during challenging times? How to people respond to them with regard to taking responsibility openly, and what were the effects on the group? On the outcomes?

Face-to-Face Leadership

Imagine that you go to a meeting with your colleagues and supervisor. You and your colleagues, in a small meeting room, sit around one end of a rectangular table. Your supervisor comes in, sits down near the other end of the table, and as he speaks, he kicks his legs up on the table, thus occupying most of the workspace.

Would you anticipate coming out of this meeting enthusiastic, empowered to do your best work, likely to spend extra time solving work problems?

Curtis LeBaron spends his time poring over videotapes of leadership interactions, and talked to BYU students about the impact of relationships. Fascinating to consider things that when pointed out make so much sense, but are not always explicitly understood.
Check it out here--you can watch, listen to, or read it.

Curtis LeBaron | Face-to-Face Leadership: As a Man Speaketh unto a Friend | July 28, 2009 | BYU Broadcasting

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Draining the Room

I watched the leader of a large group give a keynote address--kind of a "State of..." speech. The speech was informative, clear, and accurate. The floor was then opened for questions and concerns. This is where things became interesting.

One member of the group shared a concern about employee access to tools required for effective work. The question raised, and many in the room nodded their heads. This leader took the question, and said, "I don't know...I won't be coming down over your supervisors' heads...you might be interested to know that you don't have it so bad--other areas have it much worse than you."

When further questions were solicited, none came. Surprised?

Back to work

It has been some time--I've been with my family in Illinois, working on a large outdoor theatrical production for my church. The experience was richly rewarding for each member of the family--hard work, and wonderful friends.

As we were in Nauvoo, I tried to keep observing the many people we worked with. All of them are good people, working hard to become better.

As I observed various interactions between individuals, it seems that a pattern of true caring may be one way to understand the mechanism of energizing others.

When someone really demonstrates a desire to understand another individual, both are ultimately energized.

This post is more clearly to announce that I'll be back building this blog and other materials.

Please send any suggestions, thoughts, etc. What kinds of postings would make something like this really interesting to you?

Employee Loyalty

The Chronicle of Higher Ed has a short post about faculty members leaving soon after receiving tenure at their institutions.  Tenure, in practical terms, is an assurance of employment (I know there are nuances, but that is for another discussion).  For many faculty members, this is a six-year process of intense work trying to demonstrate the value of their contribution to the institution in teaching, scholarship, and citizenship.

One person sent in a particularly interesting comment.  

"If the faculty member is good we get them cheap until someone else forces us to up the ante. Loyalty is just ruse to keep faculty on board. In my 30 years associated with 5 different universities I see little evidence at most that faculty are anything but “primary units of production”—direct quote from former dean."

Contrast that to another comment:

"When I was a tenure-track faculty member, my chair helped me with a reduced teaching load, travel funding, a mentor, and a graduate assistant. Now that I am a Dean, I do the same thing for my tenure-track faculty."

These two deans indicated two different views of the individuals they worked with.  While we don't know which, if either, of these deans would show up as energizers, we might be able to predict our own responses to them.  Which one would energize you the most?  Faculty positions are largely autonomous--as a faculty member, you do your own research, plan your own classes, generally with infrequent feedback from those in authority.  An energizer in the network might be particularly effective, since the motivation needed for continuing excellence in faculty work is generally considered to be self-generated.

Many of the roles you fill don't have specific, immediate, clear rewards attached for doing the job well.  I think of my role as a parent.  While I enjoy my children now, much of the work we do with them is done with the hope that they will grow up to be productive, happy adults.  What happens to my energy when I interact with someone who acknowledges that work?  What happens to yours?

Try This Experiment

Try this, and then post a comment to share how it works.  Think of three people you are likely to have interactions with in the very near future.  What is the main purpose or context of your relationship?  Coworkers? Family? Neighbors?  What will be the likely "main" topic of discussion, or the reason for the interaction?  

Now, think of an interest or project of each of the three people you have chosen outside the main context of your interaction.  Commit to asking each of the three about that outside interest or project as part of your interaction.

After the interaction, write down some of your observations of their responses to you, and reflect on your own level of energy after the interaction.

What did you learn? 

Here's an example:  I'm going to meet with a faculty colleague to talk about redesigning a course syllabus.  I know this colleague has been working on a show with some children, so I'll ask her specifically how it's been.