Recently, as a guest on a podcast, I was asked what qualities make up an impressive leader. For definition purposes, an impressive leader is an effective leader who works on improving themselves daily, so they can empower and lead others the right way.
My response to the question is one that is the pinnacle of what truly defines an impressive, empowering and frankly and awesome leader. It’s simple and it’s two words. I have been working with leaders from every type of industry for nearly 28 years. I speak at over 100 meetings and conferences a year and I get to observe firsthand how leaders interact with their people, treat them, recognize them, inspire them or simply do not. These two words seem the be the common denominator of the most successful leaders I have worked with. We learn these two words early in life, yet some leaders never master them and because of that, their leadership suffers significantly. It’s negative consequences of not embracing the simplest of lessons from before kindergarten.
The two words are, “Thank you.”
One more time, “THANK YOU."
The leaders who are looking to recognize, praise, acknowledge, and extend gratitude are those who have mastered the art of using and expressing these words, “Thank you.” They have gratitude on their radar. They are looking for reasons to celebrate others. They understand that engagement in the workplace starts with gratitude… a simple, “thank you.”
Communicating gratitude communicates that you acknowledge the effort, attitude, and work that someone did that made something important or significant happen. It can even recognize that something little was done and that little things make a big difference.
The sad truth is, we were taught to say “Thank you” in kindergarten and early on by our parents. But for some reason, the lesson didn’t stick with some people and leaders. And the reason is they just didn’t or don’t see the value of recognition and gratitude. What we don’t value, we don’t invest in or give attention to. Remember that the next time you experience a leader who demonstrates a lack of gratitude. They once learned the lesson, but along the way, they stopped seeing value in the lesson and as a result, the lesson no longer serves them. The absence of the lessons weakens their leadership foundation. It’s true!
Last year, I had the opportunity to speak at two different employee recognition events. The first one, I probably would have passed on had my friend not been employed there and lobbied so hard to get me there to speak. What I have observed about organizations with leaders who lack the understanding of how to recognize and value their people the right way is that they typically – mostly – do not have speakers like me. They just don’t. Speakers like me are a gift. And I am not saying that with an ego, I am saying that with pure sincerity. When an organization cares about their people, they demonstrate it. They have great speakers, presentations, and experiences that demonstrate, “We care about you, we are grateful for you, and we want to show it to you!”
Organizations that have a “get by” attitude don’t invest their people, meetings, or their “thank you” efforts. They see it as an unnecessary expense. Organizations and leaders who care see it as a no brainer!
So, before every meeting I speak at, I will do a customization call that helps me understand the organization and focus of the meeting and how I can gear my message to the event. The first group asked me if I would be willing to paint a picture of their CEO. For those of you new to my stuff, I paint an exciting picture during my speech. It’s entertaining and inspiring but also a great way to reinforce a great message in a visual way. When they asked me to paint their CEO, I responded, “But, isn’t this an all employee event?”
“Yes.”
“So, is it the CEO’s birthday, retirement, or a recovery thing?”
“No, we just thought we would recognize him.”
“But, it’s an all employee recognition event, don’t we want to recognize everyone?
“Yes, but we thought about doing something extra special for the CEO.”
“Well, as much as I would love to paint a picture of your CEO at an all-employee recognition meeting, I really like to paint original paintings that everyone in the audience can see themselves in and relate too. Would it be okay if I did that?”
It took a bit, but I sold them on the idea of doing something that was more focused on everyone verse just one.
The other group I was speaking for was over the moon excited about the idea of painting a picture that everyone would relate to and see themselves in. They were focused on everyone verse just one.
The week of the events arrived and here is what I witnessed.
The first event that I was hesitant to do didn’t disappoint. It lived up to exactly what I expected. It lacked energy. I felt bad for my friend, and I could see why he tried so hard to get me to speak there. It made me think about all the people over the course of 28 years that have been trying to get me to speak at their organization but they work for organizations driven by average leadership. Average leaders don’t do excellent things for their people, they just think or imagine that they do and never really do. It’s pretty sad.
When the CEO got up to share a few words with everyone, he talked about himself. I don’t think he thanked anyone. When I got up, I gave them a taste of something great – recognition, gratitude, and what it sounds like to hear someone communicate, “Thank you!”
Sometimes after my speeches I will do a book signing and as I was signing books, the CEO never once came up to me to shake my hand or say, “Thank you.”
I never expect a “Thank you,” but it sure says a lot about a person and a leader. I simply watched that CEO leave the room without uttering a single thank you to anyone - me included.
The next event was the type of event that I get excited about. Mostly because I know these leaders are excited about what they are doing and the opportunity to celebrate their people. This gets me excited. I look forward to these events.
It didn’t disappoint. The CEO got up and recognized everyone. He did it with such class. And you could tell this was a room filled with employees who loved working for this organization. They felt celebrated and recognized.
After my speech, when I was doing my book signing, there was about a 40-minute line to get books signed. The organization bought everyone a book and everyone lined up to get an autograph. Guess who was last in line? The CEO! He didn’t skip the line. He waited and was last. And he shook my hand and thanked me for my time, my speech, my painting, and for about 10 minutes we talked about my favorite subject – family stories. I left feeling recognized and celebrated.
There is something special about those two powerful words, “Thank you.”
When you as a leader use them often, you let people know they are important, valuable, seen, heard, special, recognized, acknowledged, and prized!
The more you look to use those words, the more you will find to use them.
Think about it.
