As we just celebrated Thanksgiving, and as I thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to read and share The Corporate Sister, it occurred to me that one of the most effective career-boosting powers lies in two simple words: “Thank you”. As corporate sisters and leaders in all areas of our lives, showing gratitude is not just a quality for us to display when necessary or adequate, it is a trait to cultivate, nurture and perfect in ourselves, and through ourselves, in others.
Gratitude says “I am thankful for where I am on the way to where I am going”. It puts us in a place of power and achievement, where the positive outweighs the negative, where we can freely refuel our energy, increase our competencies, and receive more so we can in turn give more. When we are in a state of gratitude, we can more easily overlook our professional and personal burdens, the weight of our responsibilities, as well as the fear of failure looming in all of us. We can produce our best work because we are in our best state of mind.
In a corporate or any other type of work environment, people are the foundation. People like us or people who may be very different from us…People we have to work with, interactions we have to learn to manage, and results we have to show as competent individuals and teams. And that is ultimately where the simple power of gratitude comes in…As we surrender to it, it breaks down mental and psychological barriers, removing the obstacles and fears that prevent us from offering and receiving our best.
That’s the power of “Thank You”, and it may just one of our most important core competencies…
Are you thankful at work?
The Corporate Sister.
