receiving gratitude from their family members can actually improve their performance as leaders in the workplace. The traditional advice for leaders to leave their personal issues at the door may not be the most effective approach to connecting with and empowering their employees. Recognizing that leaders have lives outside of work is crucial for supporting them in the demanding and often unappreciated work they do every day. This new research comes from the University of Florida.Gratitude from family members can lead to higher levels of prosocial impact, which means feeling like one is making a positive difference in the lives of others. This, in turn, motivates people to engage in more helpful and empowering behavior towards their employees at work. According to researcher Klodiana Lanaj, the feeling of making a difference in the lives of loved ones can satisfy psychological needs and motivate individuals to be more helpful and empowering towards their direct reports in the office.The key to harnessing the power of gratitude from family members lies in reflecting on and savoring those moments of appreciation, as this can prolong and intensify the experience, Lanaj explained.
“Taking a few minutes in the morning to reflect on and write about a time when a family member expressed gratitude for something you did at home can inspire you as a leader to be more attentive to your employees’ needs and to empower them to have a say in important decisions at work,” she said. “Our research indicates that positive events that occur at home don’t have to remain there. Instead, they can carry over to work and benefit leaders in various ways.he researchers, led by Jasmine Hu from Ohio State University along with Daniel Kim from UF Warrington and Lanaj, conducted a study that involved over 300 leaders and 100 of their employees in different industries. The leaders were asked to reflect and write about the gratitude they received at home before starting their workday, and the researchers also surveyed the leaders and their followers on the same days to report on their helping and empowering behaviors towards their employees. The results were consistent across all three studies, as reported by both the leaders and their followers.Reflecting on gratitude received at home has been found to make leaders more helpful and empowering towards their employees at work. According to Kim, “Our work suggests that gratitude expressions at home may be beneficial not only for the recipient leaders, but also for their employees, who then experienced more help and empowerment from these leaders.” This means that showing appreciation for each other at home can benefit both the family relationship and the loved one’s work experiences. Lanaj and Kim recommend that leaders follow two simple steps to benefit from this gratitude reflection. These steps are not mentioned in the original HTML code.
Before beginning your workday, take a moment to reflect on a time when you performed a kind deed for a family member and received appreciation in return.
Close your eyes and visualize the event you remembered, as savoring the memory will enhance its impact. Write a brief description of the actions you took, your family member’s response, and your emotions upon receiving their appreciation.
“Gratitude has been shown to have many benefits for those who receive it, but there has been limited research on leaders as recipients of gratitude,” K
The study found that leaders who engage in gratitude reflections can create a positive work environment that encourages prosocial behavior and improves leadership effectiveness.
Journal Reference:
- Jia (Jasmine) Hu, Daniel Kim, Klodiana Lanaj. The benefits of reflecting on gratitude received at home for leaders at work: Insights from three field experiments.. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2024; DOI: