(By Buzz Knight)
In today’s challenging times leaders are trying to navigate turbulence like never before. If one tried to determine a plan for dealing with a pandemic, global turmoil and economic strife they would have to summon superpowers like never before.
The leaders of today have to pay more attention to those they are attempting to lead as the pulse of workforces in all businesses is unhealthy at best.
One trait that must be in the leadership toolbox today is gratitude. Gratitude is an important leadership quality that can benefit leaders in all sectors especially the radio business.
I have previously touched on this topic and was reminded of the importance of it with two recent examples.
One occurred when I recently interviewed Julie Adam for my Takin A Walk podcast.
Julie was The President of Rogers Media for many years and the author of “Imperfectly Kind-Why Kindness is the Must have Superpower you need” and she spoke about how leaders need to treat their employees with greater respect.
The other example is Matt Cundill’s Sound Off Podcast with Fred Jacobs where Fred speaks about the results of his AQ4 survey of air talent and the current negative psyche of that workforce.
Both examples are reinforcements of the importance of gratitude leadership.
Leaders need to have their ear to the ground and have a keen sense of what their teams are feeling.
The mood is low in many workforces.
Gratitude can lead to results.
It has been shown to be related to several positive outcomes, including better mental health and higher job satisfaction.
Gratitude can also make you more resilient in the face of adversity and less likely to experience regret.
Gratitude is a powerful tool for leaders because it allows them to engage in self-regulation, which is the process of exerting control over one’s emotions and thoughts.
Self-regulation helps leaders stay focused on what they want rather than what they don’t want or feel threatened by.
Leaders who are grateful are more likely to be able to maintain their emotional equilibrium when faced with stressful events, such as criticism or difficult circumstances, which means they are less likely to lash out at others or lose their composure.
Leaders need to be able to reset their organization from time to time to bring everyone together with the proper alignment of goals and the best place to start is with their own internal reset of gratitude leadership.
Buzz Knight is the CEO of Buzz Knight Media and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]
