Who cares about being grateful?
Isn’t thankfulness just for losers?

I tend to be a respectful, and thankful person, but some days these questions do come to mind. Whenever I can, I thank people… and have made an effort to provide a personal and sincere note of gratitude to those who were deserving of it, especially on my work-teams.

It does not take much. A verbal thank you is always nice. Beyond that, maybe taking the person aside, and mention that I am deeply grateful for something they did, and that it really was meaningful to me or the project. Better yet, a simple “Thank You” card is always a well appreciated momento of your gratitude. What I noticed, is that at the office, people receiving my thank-you cards, almost always put them up on their cubicle wall - somewhere (nice).

Just today, I stumbled on a Harvard Business Review podcast, speaking to this very topic. In firms where managers were sincerely thankful for the work efforts of their staff, and said so… there was up to a 70% improvement in productivity. This is amazing for a little ‘Thank You.’ As you can guess, morale would be getting a shot in the arm in the process.

On a personal note, this week I was negotiating a contract with a large organization. I reviewed the contract, submitted a counter proposal, and received an offer on what they were willing to do, and where they would not be able to move. In my response, I mentioned how deeply grateful I was that they had considered and accepted the counter points. Overall, I mentioned that it was great to settle the terms so quickly so we can move to the next steps, and on the point that they could not move, I noted my gratitude on their consideration.

To my surprise, my counterpart came back with a proposal on how we could work out even the final point that we had not previously moved on. In effect, my respectful thankfulness to my counterpart made her think out of the box on the item that was blocking us, and to propose a solution that actually accommodated what I had requested!

Taking a positive view of the negotiation, and being generous with my gratitude for engaging the dialogue made my counterpart generous in return (in fact, beyond what I expected). 

Answering the opening questions, the people who care are those to whom you express your gratitude. It matters to them, and you would never know if you did not express it. In fact, by being grateful and thanking people it will even make you feel good about yourself.

Is this just for losers? Somedays it easy to think this. In the discussion above (which actually happened this week), I can attest that it definitely worked and tipped my negotiation in my favour! 

Oh yes - "Thank You" for reading. :-)
Try it … thank someone who deserves it - and feel good about it!