“Gratitude is a foundational leadership skill, and when we embrace it, we become better and more inspiring leaders” – Steve Foran, P. ENG, CSP, MBA
In this episode, I interviewed Steve Foran, P.ENG, CSP, MBA, engineer, founder of Gratitude at Work, and author of the book “Surviving to Thriving – The 10 Laws of Grateful Leadership,” and talked about leadership and how engineering leaders are leading with gratitude to enhance how they lead. He also talks about how engineers can build better habits, and how by doing that, can greatly benefit your engineering career.
Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About Leading With Gratitude:
- Gratitude is at the core of generosity. We spend a lot of time at work, and that means we need more gratitude at work. Gratitude is a business lever that you can use in your business and personal life to be more impactful, effective, and happier. Leading with gratitude is a key leadership skill that leaders should embrace.
- Gratitude is an emotion that puts you into action and in a physiological state that enables you to access the highest order parts of your brain — the executive function. It helps you access your critical thinking, innovation, and decision-making, and also helps you moderate your emotions. Leading with gratitude puts you in a positive emotional state. It makes you feel good and gives you access to your executive function. After being in the pandemic for two years, you need to access your executive function more than ever. You must be in a positive emotional state to tackle any problem areas most effectively.
- You can find gratitude in any situation if you look for it. If you are in a problematic situation, look around for things that you are grateful for in that situation. Gratitude is looking for the good in any situation. One of the ways that you can find good in a terrible situation is to forgive the person who caused it. It allows you to let go of it.
- To become more grateful and experience more successes in your life, you must develop a daily habitual ritual. Start recording what you are grateful for daily. Write it on paper or record it electronically – do not only think about it. Recording them will involve your physical senses that will have a greater impact on your brain’s wiring. And find a community where you can read or listen to what other people are grateful for. You will change over time and start noticing a change in your life