I know that throughout the International Leadership Blogathon this year there will be many excellent posts on leadership. There will be some great thinking on how to lead, and how to follow, and how to manage. I’m looking forward to reading them and gaining a loads of useful knowledge.
But for this first post, I want to take us on a different path.
— A path that we sometimes forget in our leadership.
— A path that we sometimes forsake in our organization.
— A path we sometimes neglect in our relationships.
Today let’s pause to think of all those meaningful moments, profound people and life lessons that have saved us and inspired us and empowered us, and let’s… be grateful.
— Think about that someone who helped you see that darkness is just the absence of light, and be grateful.
— Think about the difficult times when you were frightened, yet someone dared you to do it anyway, and be grateful.
— Think about the moments when you felt beaten down and then someone picked you up, and be grateful.
— Think about the times you felt yourself become tense and someone helped you find your gentle side, and be grateful.
— Think about the times of when others failed you and someone was there with an extended hand, and be grateful.
— Think about the occasions when someone helped you feel your inner power, and be grateful.
— Think about the special times when you felt you were leading from love, and be grateful.
Be the Leader who leads with gratitude” ~Lolly Daskal (Tweet This!)
Thank those who have made a difference in your life: with a note, with a call, with an e-mail, with a text. If they’re out of reach, or if they were passing strangers and you don’t even know their name, thank them in your heart.
The grateful lead.
This is what it means to Lead From Within.
Be the kind of leader who embraces gratitude and extends appreciation to others. The grateful lead with heart.
Have you thanked anyone lately who had helped you in any possible way? Please share with us your thoughts on grateful leadership.
About Lolly Daskal
Thanks for bringing up this subject, Lolly. Sometimes when things in our lives seem too challenging to face, it can help to for us to just stop for a moment and think about things that we are grateful for. Those things we are grateful for usually are greater than our negative issues.
Gratitude is a gentle starting point of grace -Lolly Daskal
Couldn’t ask for a better start to the blogathon than an attitude of gratitude – feel the waves envelop the world from all the positive grateful energy here in one place!
Dear Heidi,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Yes ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE is so important when it comes to leadership and life.
Lets not forget to be #grateful because gratitude brings grace to all that we do.
Lolly,
What a great post! Thank you! Gratitude is such an important trait to embrace in leading and life. All through our lives, we have those trigger points in which someone does something for us. We express our gratitude at that moment but then fast forward the clock several years and decades. When we look back, we realize the impact of that seemingly small spark of helping out. So it is very important to go back a reaffirm our gratitude.
I have tried to do this as best I can and it is a practice we need to adopt. Gratitude is something we can pass on through our thanks and through our actions forward.
Grateful,
Jon
Leaders must have grace and gratitude to impart it on to others.
Love this post Lolly! I’m grateful for all the punches in the gut and kicks in the back that forced me to look inward before moving forward. It have given me perspective, maturity, wisdom and an ability to be grateful for a larger number of things in life.
Great leadership essential!!
Wow William sounds very physical. (kidding) and I know what you mean.
Sometimes we need a good shove from above to keep moving forward.
And as you say, being grateful for the dark and light the good and bad is so important.
I am grateful for your insightful comment.
Thanks
Lolly
as leaders we constantly need to remember to acknowledge the people in this world who sustain our lives.
And to surrender to the miraculous scope of human generosity and to recognize and remember that we need to keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.
FINALLY someone is talking about Gratitude in the business world; particularly with the leaders!
Expressing genuine gratitude and appreciation in the workplace makes good business sense, it’s free but the impact can be priceless on so many levels.
Thanks for sharing!
Joyce,
As in Love – Leadership is made up of three unconditional properties in equal measure
1. Acceptance
2. Understanding
3. Appreciation
We need all three to keep it whole.
#Iamgratefulfor your thoughtful comment.
Lolly
What a great way to start off the month Lolly. Life is so much more fulfilling when we focus on what we are grateful for. For me, it allows to keep a positive attitude and an awareness that allows me to add value to others rather than focusing on the challenges in life. Great post!
Barry,
I truly like what you said, Life is so much more fulfilling when we focus on what we are grateful for. For me, it allows to keep a positive attitude and an awareness that allows me to add value to others rather than focusing on the challenges in life.
GREAT words, GREAT thoughts. GREAT way of being.
Thankful for your leadership
Lolly
Lolly,
I wake up every day grateful for waking up. Gratitude has sustained me in tough times. It has removed pain, angst, anger, and worry.
Gratitude soothes my stress and intensifies my joy.
I say thank you throughout the day:
—
To the person who thinks to hold the door as they leave and I enter
To people who are honest w/o being brutal
To those who share a compliment and a thank you
To all who inspire me and those who support me
To the intuitives who can sense I what feel w/o my saying it
To my neighbors who reach out when I am in trouble
To everyone who offers me a smile that lifts me up
To my customers who have given me 25 years of joyful work
To you for your bringing “heart based” thinking into the mainstream of business
…. and the beat goes on. I could write forever on this!
Kudos and warmest thanks for our inspired connection.
Kate
An interesting perspective. I came across a Director who always seemed to be grateful for the work of their colleagues. However they always perceived this as insincere. It was just something they did because they thought that was what a manager did. We have to learn to be genuinely grateful.
Nice one
Dave,
how you say thank you is important and what you are thankful for.
When we say THANK YOU it is important to be specific, give an example, make it timely, and let the person know how their action made you feel..
Gratitude with heart is never mistaken for being ingenious.
An interesting perspective. How many leaders feign gratitude? How many are sincere? Luckily people see through this very quickly. Unfortunately this quickly leads to the Leader being perceived as insincere.
Nice one
I have had some great mentors and leaders pour into my life. I know that they have played a major role in my life and who I am now.
Its not until we are removed from the situation or a few years later, that we realize how much of an influence that person had on our lives. I have learned that its important to let those people know how much I appreciate their input.
Thanks for the reminder and great perspective Lolly!
Paul
many times in life, it is only after the fact that we realize what an impact someone has had on our lives.
Its never to late to say THANK YOU
its never to late to APPRECIATE someone
Being grateful is a timeless effort one we should embody as leaders whenever and wherever we go.
Lolly
So what am I grateful for? Yesterday, I was honored to celebrate 9 wonderful years with the love of my life. It has been an awesome journey, with its share of challenges but bucket loads of love. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead a phenomenal family. My gratitude to Harriette, for your love picks me up when I fall flat on my face. I am grateful for my family, for their love that drives my desire to serve and lead.
Kimunya,
Your grateful note, brought tears to my eyes. Please let your love of your life know how grateful you are about them.
Thanks for being so amazing.
Lolly
Gratitude to you Lolly!
A powerful and intimate start to the Blogathon
– and I’ve said thankyou to my family for supporting and for being selfless while I gave up a safe and dull job to go do something much more risky… but something where I can make a real difference!
Have a great weekend!
Richard,
It sounds like your family trusts you. Loves you. and appreciates your talents. They have invested in you and believe in you.
NOW go and make us proud.
You are a lucky man!
Lolly
Thank you so much, Lolly. I’m grateful for this post. As a Kind Leader, it is not wisdom to find fondness in counting flaws and mistakes. Gratitude is one of the sweet paths to finding happiness within, and of course, peace of mind. I shared your quote…
Ogwo,
Gratitude is one of the sweet paths to finding happiness within and it is also the SWEET SPOT to making us as leaders stand out from the rest.
Thanks for stopping by
Lolly
A great way to kick off this blogathon Lolly! I am grateful for all you and the other writers in this blogathon have and will contribute to me and the incredible community of folks who have connected online through our shared passion for leadership.
There are quite a few people participating in this blogathon I have not connected with before who I am looking forward to discovering. Looking forward to a great insight and rich conversation throughout the series.
The thing I love about leadership is the intricacies and variables that never make it boring. Things are constantly changing, unanticipated variables get thrown into the mix that seek to derail teams and organizations. Yet mostly void from volumes of leadership books and blogs is this simple, yet powerful aspect of – gratitude. I hope after this article, launching off the blogathon, that gratitude is brought to the forefront of leadership discussions – the world over. Imagine the change that could take place.
Simple and powerful post Lolly, thank you!
With Gratitude,
Todd Nielsen
Todd,
I am extremely grateful that you allowed me to express my mind here.
I am tremendously grateful that you have taken my heart message seriously.
I am enormously grateful that the subject of gratitude was not dismissed but was accepted with an open will.
Thanks to you Todd for supporting the heart based leadership message and making it part of blogathan family.
Truly Grateful for your leadership
Lolly
Thanks Lolly for constantly setting the gratitude bar.
The world is fast changing and the pace of changes will likely increase.
For all leaders your message resonates as it reinforces the importance of caring for others, reaching out and ♥♡♥.
This is not a gender-based message or left or right brain thing ~ it is for all of us as human beings to be, for a more humane world.
Today I am grateful for your message, which I will carry and champion !
Your skiing blogging poet humbling believing in #nothingbutexcellence for all of us !
Johann
Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
― Marcel Proust
Thank you, Lolly, for starting off this month with this great message of gratitude!
Gratitude goes a long way.
I feel if we can be thankful for what we have and who has helped us …we will end up having more love, more support and more of what life has to offer!
Susan THANK YOU for your thoughtful comment.
A true leader leading the pack! I’m grateful.
Dan I am grateful we have a leader of giants among us.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and gratitude.
I appreciate you and all that you do for the #leadership community.
Lolly
Indeed a very nice start of this blogataton. Thank you Lolly. I love your ideas about the leadership from within.
Joan
Thank you for the appreciation of an importance of lead from within.
Its the foundation of all leadership because its laced with love.
GRATEFUL for your thoughtfulness
Lolly
Hi Lolly – I’ve tweeted what a heart-warming way to kick off the International Leadership Blogathon! I love the Lead from Within thinking and appreciating and valuing is the key to great relationships. Thank you! John 🙂
John Grateful for your support in tweeting about THE GRATEFUL LEAD.
Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was someone or something that helped us.
Lets show gratitude.
Lolly
I love this Lolly because it’s simple, yet powerful, and something that anyone can do to immediately start making a difference in their business and life.
Susan,
You are correct when you say….. It is simple and yet powerful.
But we simply sometimes forget and powerful reminders keep our hearts ignited.
Lets dwell on the beauty of life and appreciate those who have helped us.
Thanks Susan.
Lolly
What a great post Lolly. I can see why Todd put you first up. It made me remember some people and I’ve already said thank you to two of them. Your big heart and clear writing has been a frequent source of inspiration to me, and I’d like to say thanks to you too.
I guess connecting the inspiration together is what we’re here for, ultimately. Not a bad legacy…
David,
You put the biggest smile on my face. I simply love that you took ACTION.
You are the essence of a true LEADER who leads from within.
I THANK you for the support and leadership you offer me and everyone.
Thank you David!! THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
We are here to make a difference with each other. That is a meaningful purpose !
Thanks for this great post! It reminded me of one of my posts…
http://thepensivecoach.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/whos-light-are-you-rekindling/
and a thought I’d had this week about sending it to the manager I wrote about who championed me… to tell her thank you. So, thanks! I’ll email her now 🙂
Jo,
This really feels good that action will be taken!
Lets make it a grateful day. tell those who have moved us, inspired us, taught us that we are grateful -Appreciation makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well
Lolly
Thank you Todd for this blogathon. What a perfect post to kick off with, Lolly! What a wonderful reminder to not only lead with gratitude but to act on that gratitude with a genuine thank you, I appreciate you, you matter. When we hold gratitude in our hearts, it’s nearly impossible to keep it to ourselves.
Thank you Alli. My gut said to start with Lolly and it was definitely right this time. With that said, I am SO looking forward to reading all the other articles, including yours. I wish I could just hide-away for a week and soak all this in, but there is work to do…
Thanks,
Todd
Dearest Alli
I admire you greatly, I appreciate you even more.
You exemplify a leader who leads from within.
You lace all that you do with heart and soul.
I look forward to your thoughts and ideas on this blogathon!
Lolly