Is Thanksgiving Embedded in Your Culture?

We have a family tradition of groaning around the first of November each year. Yes, you read correctly – “groaning.” We groan that Christmas decorations are going up in retail establishments around the city. Not that we don’t like Christmas, but that Thanksgiving has become the forgotten holiday. Thanksgiving is extremely important, not just as a holiday but as a habit in life. Scripture makes this very clear. And one of the places where thanksgiving is most needed and often forgotten is in the workplace. Hard-charging leaders are so focused on accomplishing the next big goal that they forget to celebrate and give thanks for their last success – and for the people who made it happen. As I think about creating a culture of thanksgiving, I’m reminded of the findings from two of my favorite authors:

• First, Break All the Rules (by Buckingham and Coffman) identifies six questions that are most highly correlated with employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity. One of the questions is: “In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?”
• Patrick Lencioni says that one of the Three Signs of a Miserable Job is anonymity. He explains, “All human beings need to be understood and appreciated for their unique qualities by someone in a position of authority.”

Like it or not, your leadership shapes the culture of your church or ministry. Both of these experts point to the importance of recognizing and appreciating the work of others. It’s not just the right thing to do as a Christian leader (even though that should be enough). It’s also a key way to boost the performance of your organization. As we prepare for Thanksgiving, it’s a good time to reflect on whether a spirit of thankfulness is rooted in the culture of your organization. Regardless of your assessment, it’s also a good time to express thanks to the people you work with. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>