Today, I was fortunate enough to see and experience a leader that ‘measured the gain and not the gap’. One of my coworkers was leaving the team and we all had an informal, virtual get-together to see him off. When my manager took the floor I was taken by surprise. I was surprised that he didn’t give the normal send-off that I was used to. I was used to the send-off that said “atta boy… good job and goodbye” Instead, his tone and level of detail for all the contributions my co-worker made, made me feel how much he valued him and what he did. Now that I have a moment to take a step back and reflect further on the impact of my manager’s appreciation, I realized it inspired me to contribute more and value him as a first-class leader.
Some rough takeaways:
Gratitude is powerful and the external effects are usually indirect.
When measuring the gain and not the gap it is easier to have gratitude.
One way to be appreciated is to appreciate first.
Related knowledge:
“If I want to gain the ability to influence you, well then what I have to do is to give you the ability to influence me.” -Jocko Willink
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