Transcripted Summary
Gratitude.
A true leader recognizes the good work in others with positive feedback and conveys gratitude.
In order to convey gratitude, you should be starting with respect, trust, and empathy, as these are valuable in providing gratitude.
Importance of showing respect to your team and feedback skills are vital for all leaders as this promotes growth.
What makes a real difference is real positive feedback or gratitude from your peers.
The problem with feedback, though, is that most of it comes verbally and is forgotten shortly afterwards.
Either that, or it arrives via email or Slack, and when we've moved on from the project or job, any written feedback is lost.
So what can we really do about it?
One of the testing community members wrote a really interesting blog where he mentioned about the brain retaining information better if it's written down by hand, rather than just reading on a screen or trying to remember it, so he embarked on adventures to bring back writing, drawing, and doodling his daily work.
His process was super simple.
All you need is to buy a pocket notebook or create a digital notebook and write any positive feedback that made you smile or feel good about your work as soon as possible after it occurred.
Remember, as a leader or a team member, you can use this as proof of great work in your year-end objectives as well.
An example that I'd like to share with you here is gratitude is the most powerful leadership skill one could attain.
Look for opportunities to celebrate success with your team such as "Well done, Person A. You received great feedback from the stakeholders." Or, "That was a great question. I'm glad you asked." Or, "That's amazing. You're thinking out of the box."
Don't wait for annual performance reviews to express appreciation to your team.
Do it right away and make sure team members are celebrated, who are doing really well.
Make it public too. Use your company portals to post a nice message for your team members.
Impact gives more value.
A really interesting book to read as well by David Williams is Personalized Book of Positivity, and a quote that I really like by Germany Kent is, "Gratitude is one of the most powerful human emotions. Once expressed, it changes attitude, brightens outlook, and broadens our perspective."
"As a leader, I found that the most powerful motivator for my team was a simple note of thanks for their outstanding work."
