LEADERS GIVE THANKS

This coming Thursday will be Thanksgiving. People throughout the United States will be celebrating this special holiday with friends, family and special guests. In that spirit, I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving and a blessed time with the people about whom you care the most.

Each Thanksgiving, whether my wife and I are hosting or being guests, we go around the table and each person talks about something for which they are thankful.

We can perform the same exercise when we focus on our unique leadership journeys.  Regardless of your age, level of experience, employment organization, or geographic location, you have been on your own leadership sojourn since you entered the workplace.

This season is an opportune time to pause and reflect upon that trip, feeling and expressing thanks for the people and the opportunities that have allowed you to arrive where you are now. I hope that you are thankful for:

-Your first manager who showed an interest and belief in your leadership potential
-Your most valuable mentors along your path to leadership positions
-Those leaders who you may have never met personally, but from whom you’ve learned so much by reading their biographies, reviewing their articles and listening to their speeches
-Those leaders who, along the way,  showed you the tough love you needed in order to pursue your leadership path
-The older teammates who believed in your potential and encouraged you to follow your leadership dreams
-The teammates who believed in your vision and followed your direction as you climbed the leadership hill
-Those most challenging employees who forced you to stretch your leadership muscles in ways you had not anticipated
-The teammates who were willing to speak truth to power and tell you the things you may not have wanted to hear
-The competitors who motivated you to keep your eyes and ears open and do your best work
-The members of your personal board of directors who kept motivating you and propelling you forward throughout your career
-The customers who gave you fantastic feedback which allowed you to enhance your skills and improve your knowledge
-Your own family members who kept encouraging you, giving you space to do your best work, and always believing in you

Please take a few moments during this upcoming Thanksgiving week to reflect upon your personal leadership journey and all the people who contributed to it.

Consider reaching out to one or more of them to express your thanks for all they contributed to help make you the leader you are today.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!