Have you ever received a bulk thank you email? I don't know about you, but for me I'd prefer a personal one liner, over a comprehensive bulk email to say thanks! I raise this because a great thank you isn't hard to get right! I try to take it very seriously the discipline of thanking people. Yes, it is a discipline! It's something that can easily slip through the cracks amongst the millions of other things you have to do.
Maybe it's so important to me because I've worked (paid and voluntary) in environments where it's felt like everything you do is taken for granted. In those places I found myself growing frustrated, angry and resentful not just at those who lead or managed me, but also at the task I was there to do and the cause I was in place to further.
The discipline of thanking someone is SO EASY! A short note of appreciation, a small gift out of the blue to say thanks, a public word of thanks followed with a round of applause, a brief conversation on the fly that still conveys that what someone did contributed to something greater and we're all better off because of it. The cost is so minimal, but the impact is so profound! So make it count, make it personal!
THE CALL TO ACTION: Right now go and thank three people for something, anything in fact. It could be what they mean to you as a friend, how they have served you or others, something they said that has helped or impacted you! Go on, build your leadership cred!
