Gratitude Shapes Effective Leadership – Part 2

If I could give you one quality gift as a leader, I would give you the gift of gratitude. If I could have God do anything for you, I would ask that God make you a grateful person. Gratitude is the fundamental value of being a follower of Jesus, it impacts who you are and everything you do.

Over my 50+ years of ministry, I have never known a person who was grateful who was at the same time bitter, hurtful, mean, or vengeful. Grateful people lead with gratitude. Who you are is how you lead.

Leading with Gratitude

Leading with gratitude means recognizing and developing the potential of the people entrusted to your care. It means you give people your time. You listen to them, discover their gifts, strengths, and passion. You encourage them and give them opportunities to become more who they are created to be. 

Leading with gratitude means you become more generous with people. Because you have developed an attitude of generosity, you begin to believe that everyone wants to perform well and will grow more into who they can be with your care and encouragement. Leading with gratitude nurtures humility, brings out the best in people, and creates an atmosphere of trust, compassion, stability, and hope. 

Cultivating Gratitude

Leading with gratitude is foundational to effective leadership. It is so foundational that you might think it is too simplistic or basic to be included as a leadership trait. You might also think that expressing gratitude is obvious, but gratitude is something you cultivate as you practice it. The more you practice it, the more you adapt to feeling and expressing it. Developing a practice of gratitude allows you to become the leader for this time and place.

The question is, “Where do you start to develop a practice of gratitude?” Well, I am convinced where you start makes a difference. So, start with the grace of God. The words “grace” and “gratitude” have the same root in Greek. Your gratitude grows out of your awareness of the grace of God. Said another way, there is no gratitude without an awareness of the grace of God. 

Luke tells a story of grace that illustrates the foundation of gratitude. You can find the story in Luke 17.

Read Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus^[e] was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³ they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He prostrated himself at Jesus’s^[f] feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Reflect on Luke 17

Leprosy was a physical condition, a skin disease, that had broad negative implications. It was an incurable disease that separated people from one another. Persons afflicted with the disease were required, by their religion, to stay outside the boundaries of the community. 

So, they were physically, as well as socially, isolated from family, friends, temple, and all that gave meaning and purpose to their lives. Individuals had no quality relationships outside of the diseased community. Their only means of living was to beg for handouts. Not only were they isolated, but they also had the responsibility of announcing their condition to everyone who came close. In other words, because of their condition, they were marginalized, ostracized, and humiliated. 

Jesus and the Lepers

In this story, as Jesus walks by, it is not clear whether they were begging or if they had confidence in Jesus’ power to cleanse them. But as Jesus passed, they cried out, “Jesus, master, have mercy on us.” Their cry for mercy was their only hope. Even though they did not cause their condition, healing was not owed to them. 

In response to their cries, Jesus gives them the direction to go show themselves to the priest. The priest was the one who could announce that each of them was cleansed of this dreaded skin disease. Interestingly, Jesus gave each of them what was needed for healing and wholeness. His direction was an act of grace. 

Response to Grace

Their action of going to show themselves to the priest was their response to grace. On their way, they were healed. In other words, they did not first simply believe and then go to the priest. They followed the direction of Jesus. Following his direction, they discovered they had been restored to health. Each of them received the same direction, the same grace, and were given hope of a new life.

They each received grace. There was no requirement to return. Yet, in a completely spontaneous expression of gratitude, one returned by giving thanks and praising God. 

God’s Grace Equips Us

In this story, leprosy is a symbol of our condition before God. We are broken people, disconnected from God, one another, and ourselves. As much as we want and try, we do not have the capacity within ourselves to reconnect what is broken. Our hope is in the experience of God’s grace. It is our response to God’s grace that equips us to lead with gratitude and to become the persons God created us to be.

Keep in mind that there is no gratitude without an awareness of grace. In the story, by God’s grace, ten returned from the world in which they had been isolated. Each of them had a new life. 

It is in returning to give thanks that makes the difference in your leadership.

Respond to Luke 17

So, how do you lead with gratitude?

Become aware of God’s grace in your life. Each day this week, make time to think about being grateful. 

Take note of the people who inspire you. Be aware of what makes you smile and what makes you notice special moments of inspiration.

Keep in mind that no person or experience is insignificant. Be aware of the person who starts a friendly conversation. Take notice of children laughing. Each experience is part of what makes you who you are. Pay attention to the small joys. The small joys are just as valuable as the big ones.

Reflect upon what makes your life easier? The alarm that reminds you to get up each morning? The water in the shower? Car? Umbrella? Cellphone? The list goes on. Take notice of what you are grateful for at the moment in which you are living? 

Think about past relationships. Upon whose shoulders are you standing? What do those people do to make life better for you? Why are you better off for having known them?

Give God thanks for the toughest relationship of the day. On my best days, I have come to experience sincere gratitude, even for difficult people, by looking for the good in my encounter with them.

Now, focus on yourself. Take a moment to give God thanks for who you are and what you like about yourself. Most of the time you quickly focus upon what you don’t like about yourself. But when you practice gratitude, you can alter that negative cycle. What could happen if you, instead of focusing upon your flaws, began to pay attention to what makes you most proud of yourself? Keep in mind, gratitude is God’s design for your life. It is so much a part of what God desires, who you are is how you lead.

So, how will you lead with gratitude? Be the one who returns to living your life in thanksgiving. Become the person you are created to be and lead with gratitude. Who you are is how you lead.

Return 

As you reflect upon your day: How did you thank God or the people around you for the experience? To whom did you express your appreciation? What did you do to allow God’s love to flow through you to the people around you today? How were you reminded that you are a child of God and have been empowered to love others as God has loved you? How will gratitude become more a part of your life? How will you express your gratitude tomorrow? What will you do differently tomorrow? Ask God to give you the faith to be the leader God has created you to be.