SEASON: 3 EPISODE: 18
Episode Overview:
Gratitude plays a pivotal role both in our personal and professional lives. On a personal level, gratitude is associated with greater happiness, as it helps individuals appreciate what they have, rather than what they lack. It fosters resilience, improves health, and strengthens relationships by promoting positive interactions and a sense of connection with others.
Professionally, expressing gratitude can lead to better work environments, increased morale, and productivity. It helps in building and maintaining professional relationships, and can also be a catalyst for networking opportunities and career advancement. A culture of gratitude within organizations can reduce employee turnover and enhance job satisfaction.
To help us understand how to integrate gratitude into our lives is author, speaker, and CEO of Gratitude at Work, Steve Foran.
Guest Bio:
Steve’s dream is one billion happier people.
While not the typical career path of an Electrical Engineer, he began exploring the relationship between gratitude and philanthropic giving during his MBA—receiving the Gold Medal for highest academic standing. Since then, Steve has been writing and conducting practice-based gratitude research and teaching the habits of gratefulness—more than sixteen years now. What has emerged is his science-based program, Gratitude At Work. It's a simple, yet innovative approach to thriving leadership and business results.
Steve founded Gratitude at Work in 2006 and started hosting conversations in his community which has since grown into work with leaders around the world, shifting cultures, helping leaders and their teams be happier at work by bringing more gratitude to work daily—audiences love the process & owners love the results.
Steve’s 2019 book, Surviving to Thriving - The 10 Laws of Grateful Leadership, was named 1 of 8 recommended reads by Greater Good Science Center at University of California Berkeley and 1 of 5 positive psychology books for a happier 2019 in inc. Also in 2019, he was an inaugural winner of Canada's CEO Trusted Advisor Awards Program and in 2017, was awarded the gold standard certification in professional speaking, CSPTM.
Steve is a son, brother, husband, father and an unapologetically proud grandfather. His kids poke fun at his gratitude work (air quotes) as he is heading to one billion with an on-line community that gives everyone easy access to the secrets of gratitude and grateful leadership. Steve is a lifelong resident of Halifax, Nova Scotia and trying to do his part to make his community a better place to live.
Resource Links:
Insight Gold Timestamps:
03:47 Gratitude is about mindset
06:45 We also have this tendency to adapt
08:11 When we start our days with gratitude, we spiral up
10:16 I don't believe comparing serves me well
11:11 Don't use any type of comparisons to find gratitude
12:51 There's two really big benefits
13:44 We have natural tendencies regarding our disposition to being grateful
15:22 In your book, you document a lot of the science and neuroscience, from Harvard and Berkeley
18:13 It's never been harder, I don't think, to be a leader in an organization
20:45 Gratitude….it does build connections between people
21:55 How can leaders and how can companies create a culture of gratitude?
23:23 If gratitude is going to be part of your culture….
24:59 Have a habitual ritual
25:16 A game changer for me….consume other people's gratitudes
27:40 The invisible barrier that keeps most people in the struggle of scarcity
28:47 We each have a need to serve, to help others, to give, to be in connection
31:56 Any strength taken to an extreme, is a weakness
33:31 There is good in virtually every situation
34:14 What are you grateful for in that challenge?
Connect Socially:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveforangratefulceo/
Gratitude at Work Playbook: https://www.gratitudeatwork.ca/playbook
Email: steve@gratitudeatwork.ca
Sponsors:
Rainmaker Digital Solutions: https://www.rainmakerdigitalsolutions.com/
Resources: https://becomingpreferred-podcast.com/resources/
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