Many of the posts and articles I have written speak about gratitude. One of the most important aspects of a leader’s responsibility is providing, modeling, and supporting this character trait.
Authenticity is the approach to everything you do. The worse thing you can do is to fake your approach to an appreciation for others. Then next is to overdo the gratitude approach by making it feel “expected” or “not special” and just like saying “great job.”
The following article from Edutopia is a great one to read as you look to add gratitude to your culture. In my history of gratitude, I have done:
- Shout outs by email about individuals to all staff
- Personal notes, cards, and gifts
- Pictures in positive cards home!
- Poems created for individuals
- Mailed home personal postcards over Christmas break to all staff and students (675 postcards handwritten)
- Themed celebrations
Share your gratitude ideas with us as we lift all in times of critical need.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/cultivating-culture-authentic-gratitude