Affirmation Is Leadership: #8 Say Thank You. An 11-Part Series.

Let me go deeper than my previous article on showing appreciation. As we talk about leadership as affirmation we need to understand how important it is for leaders to say thank you. Say thank you needs to convey more than just appreciation or recognition of what someone is doing. This is why I want to talk a little bit more about saying thank you and this article.

Verbal expressions of appreciation and especially saying thank you is extremely important for leaders. Leaders often are at the higher levels in the organization but they are often distant from what is happening in the ranks below them. Leaders often depend on managers to carry out the goals and objectives that have been delegated through appropriate systems and to teams members. Saying thank you means that leaders must go beyond just using words.

Establishing culture within the organization is a major responsibility of the leader. Manager simply carry out tasks and activities that keep the mission and goals of the organization accountable. Culture within the organization means establishing how we officially both informally and formally say thank you.

Managers typically are not very good at this because they may feel as if their job is to get more productivity out of those that report to them. Yet, leaders create a culture of showing how and developing ways of saying thank you.

Whether that comes from upper management  or it  comes from mid-management, your direct report (the boss), or it is communities from the leader at the top, it is important that individuals not only hear thank you but they also feel appreciated. It’s very necessary for the culture of an organization to permit everyone to be encouraging and to convey thanks-giving to their peers as well as those at all levels of the organization.

Leaders need to develop the culture of affirmation in the organization. It is their primary function because of the benefits to employees and the health of the organization. A culture of affirmation also helps to retain good employees. People stay when they feel that someone notices their contribution to goals and objectives.

Take a break and outline the qualities you believe make a great leader. You may ultimately come up with a list of values and objectives. But this article direct your thoughts for just a few moments on being a transformational leader. 7 Transformational Qualities.

Leadership is affirmation! It is so important for leaders to create a culture of thanks-giving. The organization is driven by the way they are made to feel as well as being recognized for their unique contribution, especially from those in leadership. If the leader doesn’t recognize how important it is to establish affirmation it is likely that you will not retain morale within the organization nor will they retain good employees in your organization.

Read article #9 here.