Seems like all you hear about is financial turmoil, chaos in the market place, and many people feeling uncertain about what the future holds. What a perfect time to be a contrarian! The question I asked was: How do I express gratitude to people in my life that make things great?
The approach was simple: randomly give 5 people in my life a tangible expression of gratitude in a 24-hour period. I went to Costco first and purchased five $20.00 Starbucks Gift Card Pack (only $79.99, includes gift card sleeves – w00t!). I wrote thank you cards (see photo above) and put the give cards inside the envelope. Then, I went about my day and randomly chose people as I saw them.
Andy Hathaway of BMW of Austin has been servicing my car for the past 3 years. Always pleasant, Andy makes my life easy when it comes to car repair. He was an easy one to say thanks for all the excellent service.
Edie Lepgold, MD is my new doctor and recently moved to Austin. Imagine her surprise when at the completion of my first office visit, I hand her a thank you note with a gift card. She smiled and told me that every Saturday she meets a good friend at Starbucks to laugh and catch up. She would surprise her friend tomorrow!
All mail is directed to our local family owned Postal Net Store. These guys are great to work with and always make it easy.
Happily, Danny Davila is my CPA. His receptionist was the fourth person who got a thank you note with gift card. Always pleasant, she quietly keeps everything running smoothly. She was away from her desk when I arrived so I asked one of the partners to give it to her and say thanks for all the great work.
Josh Welch, Retail Services Manager, ABC Bank (South Austin Branch) has gone out of his way a number of times to make my life easy. That was an easy choice! Josh and his staff always make it easy for me.
As a leader, how do you express gratitude to the people on your team? What is one small tangible gesture you can make to the people around you to say thanks? While we often think about these gestures, what is most important is that you tangibly express your gratitude on a frequent basis. Develop this habit if you want to be considered a great leader!
Posted by Byron Van Arsdale
Twitter: @headset
Author – 16 Secrets to a Great Conference Call
ConferenceCallTraining.com
