Gratitude helps leaders lead

1. Great Leaders
are Grateful Leaders
Brigitte C. Madrian
2022 Summit Conference

2. The Impact of
Expressing Gratitude

3. Most people report that expressing gratitude
improves their mood
Source: Kumar and Epley, ”Undervaluing Gratitude,” 2018

4. The Goldilocks Question
“When thinking about how often you typically write
letters of gratitude, do you feel that you do this
less often than you’d like to,
more often than you’d like to,
or is your frequency just right?”

5. Most people report expressing gratitude
less often than they should
Source: Kumar and Epley, ”Undervaluing Gratitude,” 2018

6. How Often Do You Express Thanks or
Gratitude to the Following?
49%
42% 37%
20% 15% 10% 7%
38%
22% 36%
29% 39%
30%
20%
Spouse/partner God Children Parents Friends Colleagues Boss/Employer
One or More Times a Day Several Times a Week
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_grateful_are_americans

7. So why don’t we
express gratitude more often?

9. Predicted Actual
We significantly under
predict
• How surprised
recipients of our
gratitude will be
• The positive impact
on recipients
Source: Kumar and Epley, ”Undervaluing Gratitude,” 2018

10. Predicted Actual
We significantly over
predict
• How awkward
recipients will feel
• The importance of
choosing just the
right words on how
recipients will feel
Source: Kumar and Epley, ”Undervaluing Gratitude,” 2018

11. Why creating a
gratitude culture is a good idea

12. Feeling Grateful Individual Honesty
27%
53%
Grateful
Feelings
Neutral
Feelings
Likelihood of Cheating
Low High
Grateful Feelings
75%
25%
Source: DeSteno et al., ”The Grateful Don’t Cheat,” 2019
Likelihood
of
Cheating
Low
High

13. Receiving Expressions of Gratitude
and Employee Engagement
“After I provided help today,
the recipients showed
gratitude toward me.”
Today Tomorrow
“Today my work had a
positive impact on my
coworkers.”
“Today I exerted a lot of
energy on the job.”
Source: Lee t al., ”The Benefits of Receiving Gratitude for Helpers,” 2019

14. I am very grateful for your
hard work. We sincerely
appreciate your
contributions to the
university.
Receiving Expressions of Gratitude
and Employee Productivity

15. Receiving Expressions of Gratitude
and Employee Productivity
39.8 41.4
41.4
62.6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Before After
Number
of
phone
calls
(weekly)
No Thanks Thanks
• Sizeable (~50%) increase in
work performance for
employees who were thanked
for their efforts
• Employees who were thanked
report feeling more valued
Source: Grant and Gino (2010) “A Little Thanks Goes a Long Way”

16. Two-Part Challenge
At a personallevel
Express gratitude to three of your
colleagues today
• In person
• E-mail
• Text message
• Handwritten note
At an organizational level
Adopt one new practice that will
promote a culture of gratitude in
your organization

17. A Big
Thank You
To the organizers of this conference
To the sponsors
To the program participants
To the attendees
To the Montage staff
To Mother Nature