This is not a Story about Sleep. This is a Story about Gratitude.
Each night before bed, I have a fairly standard routine. I brush my teeth, wash my face, have a sip of water, and just before I turn off the lights, I review my daily WHOOP insights. My husband was hooked on his, so a few years ago, he convinced me to join the bandwagon. The WHOOP goes further than other fitness and health wearable that I have used in the past. Instead of simply tracking things like activity, nutrition, and sleep, WHOOP provides me with daily feedback on what to do with the insights so that I can build healthier, more sustainable habits. I also complete a quick daily journal that I customized at the beginning of my WHOOP subscription. WHOOP tracks those entries to identify which daily practices support improved sleep and recovery.1
While overall health and fitness are important to me, my most significant challenge has always been sleeping. I have never been a great sleeper. For decades I ran my body and mind into the ground and slept only 3 to 4 hours a night. It took my research on the impact that health has on a person’s ability to lead people well before I realized that I was trying to convince leaders to do something I was not doing myself. In January 2021, a quote from Greg McKeown’s (2014) Essentialism changed how I viewed rest, recuperation, and self-care. It literally set me on a new course in life. “The best asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves. If we underinvest in ourselves, and by that I mean our minds, our bodies, and our spirits, we damage the very tool we need to make our highest contribution. One of the most common ways people—especially ambitious, successful people—damage this asset is through lack of sleep” (p. 94).
I still suck at sleeping, but I am more conscientiously focused on improving it. S0, I begrudgingly purchased yet another wearable because my husband assured me this was the one. It wasn’t until last night when my WHOOP insight made my jaw drop, that I knew he was right. It said:
After reporting gratitude (10x in the past 90 days), your REM Duration typically increased by 7.0%.
Let me start by saying that the essence of this insight was not new news to me. In fact, at the time, I was working on research for 9 Leader Touchstones (one of which is Gratitude), and understanding the power of Gratitude is the exact reason I added this to my daily WHOOP journal. I wanted to see Gratitude in action. Decades of research by Psychologists and Mental Health experts have demonstrated a robust connection between Gratitude and health. Related to sleep, “hypothalamic regulation triggered by gratitude helps us get deeper and healthier sleep naturally every day.”3 I get it. But there it was, staring back at me—the outcome I knew was possible through years of research had finally, meaningfully impacted me personally. At that moment, the intangible power of Gratitude became tangible for me. That WHOOP insight doesn’t even begin to tell me how my expressions of Gratitude positively impacted the recipients.
Grateful leaders are positive catalysts. When you demonstrate Gratitude, you increase connection and loyalty with your team members by reinforcing Cultures of Trust, Purpose, and Belonging. By expressing Gratitude, you untangle fear and build psychological safety. Team members feel valued and motivated. Acts of Gratitude are powerful tools that inspire your team members and connect them to the organization’s greater purpose.
During the Leader-First® Leadership program and one-on-one Leader Coaching, we talk to leaders about the power that Gratitude has in reinforcing the Culture of Vitality and untangling the culture of fatigue. Our research has overwhelmingly confirmed the results of reinforcing this culture dimension—higher team member productivity and increased engagement, among other things. Studies on Gratitude and appreciation have shown “that when employees feel valued, they have high job satisfaction, are willing to work longer hours, engage in productive relationships with co-workers and supervisors, are motivated to do their best and work towards achieving the company’s goals.”4
As a retired professional fundraiser, during the early days of my career, I witnessed the power of the word thanks. Recently, I reviewed an article that established Gratitude’s effect on team members, specifically for professional thankers (also known as fundraisers). Researchers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania found that leaders who expressed Gratitude to their team members increased team member motivation, leading to higher productivity.4 In the study, fundraisers were randomly assigned to two groups. The first group made typical solicitation calls to alums to ask for donations. The second group met with the Director of Annual Giving on a different day. During the meeting, she told them she was grateful for their efforts. The following week, team members from the second group made 50% more solicitation calls than their counterparts from the first group. Even fundraisers need to be thanked every now and then.
My WHOOP insight also expanded my thinking on Gratitude. During our coaching sessions in the past, I focused primarily on how a leader’s demonstration of Gratitude unleashes their team members’ unique potential and how it positively impacts team member energy renewal. However, I had lost sight of Gratitude's reciprocal, reinforcing nature. Expressions of Gratitude to both the giver and the receiver activate neurochemical releases of serotonin and dopamine. These help you decrease stress and regulate your emotions. Simple exchanges of Gratitude yield long-lasting, positive effects on neurological functioning.5
Robert Emmons, the world’s foremost scientific expert on the subject, says Gratitude “magnifies positive emotions” by helping us focus on the present. When something is new—car, spouse, house—we initially feel excited, but that feeling wears off after a while. “But Gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something, and when we appreciate the value of something, we extract more benefits from it; we are less likely to take it for granted.”6 I often hear the phrase, “Have an attitude of Gratitude.” However, a grateful attitude does not go far enough to evoke Gratitude’s positive, neurological, and physiological effects. Gratitude is an action, not a mindset.
Toward the end of our Leader-First® Leadership engagement, I ask the leaders in the room this question: “Do you genuinely care about your team members?” They universally say, “Yes.” Then I ask them, “Would your team members answer that question the same way, and if so, what evidence would they provide?” Usually, it gets so quiet I could hear a pin drop in the room. I have found that for some leaders, expressing gratitude feels uncomfortable and even foreign. Some Leaders seem to associate demonstrating gratitude with demonstrating vulnerability. They are not the same, but both are equally important in signaling genuine care and extending trust to team members. As leaders, you must be active participants in the work of Gratitude. In choosing to do so, you not only take another step toward building an enduring organization, but you also improve the health and Resilience of the employees under your care, not to mention your own.
References
1. WHOOP. (2023, July 17). Your Personal Digital Fitness and health coach. WHOOP. https://www.whoop.com/
2. McKeown, G. (2014). Essentialism. Virgin Books.
3. Chowdhury, M. R. (2022, August 2). The neuroscience of gratitude and its effects on the brain. PositivePsychology.com.
4. Riordan, C. M. (2014, August 7). Foster a culture of gratitude. Harvard Business Review.
5. Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. American Psychological Association.
6. Zahn, M. R., Krueger, F., Huey, E. D., Garrido, G., & Grafman, J. (2007). Social concepts are represented in the superior anterior. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
7. Emmons, R. (2010). Why gratitude is good. Greater Good.
