Gratitude in Business

Thomas S. Monson in his April 1992 talk, “An Attitude of Gratitude”, said, “Like the leprosy of yesteryear are the plagues of today. They linger; they debilitate; they destroy. They are to be found everywhere. Their pervasiveness knows no boundaries. We know them as selfishness, greed, indulgence, cruelty, and crime, to identify but a few. Surfeited with their poison, we tend to criticize, to complain, to blame, and, slowly but surely, to abandon the positives and adopt the negatives of life…We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts and attitude of gratitude. If we ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.” 

A ton has changed in my life during the past four years I have been in school, studying business. I have been able to use my own professional experiences to navigate my learning process at BYU-I. As many of my classes have studied leadership, entrepreneurship, and successful business practices, there has been one common thread, one resounding message of the need and place for gratitude in business. 

There are many reasons why recently I decided to part ways with a company I worked at for the last nineteen years. One reason was the spirit of expectation, and lack of gratitude that was beginning to exist within the heart of the company’s owner since the trials of COVID-19. This anti “attitude of gratitude” was instead creating a culture of hatred, anger, animosity, frustration, failure, and blame. Over the course of eighteen months, the employees (who remained working) worked insane hours, creating curriculum, re-inventing the wheel, and creatively keeping the company in business. There were major sacrifices being made, but the team was united in the goal of succeeding. Many blessings came about including a special bond and a unifying spirit among the team due to the unusual and unprecedented work conditions. As a team, we saw that we were able to accomplish the impossible. But, instead of expressing gratitude and letting the team know how valued they were, the owner because irrational, and continued to put limitations and impossible expectations on the team. Because of the owner’s ego and lack of gratitude, he lost 75% of his team within a month and has since suffered financial ruin, to the point where he has no choice but to sell his business or face closure. There is a giant lack of respect for him within the industry and he is has been left to pick up the pieces of his once very successful business. 

In his article, “The Making of an Entrepreneur (A)” Randy Haykin said, “I would like to be able to appreciate people and really reward them in real time. This is difficult. When you are involved in a start-up, the pace is so frenetic, particularly with the Internet or intranet now, since the competition is changing daily: the market is changing; the pricing is changing; the product is changing; the funding is changing. Everything is shifting. And in that shifting environment, you have got to remember to thank people. It is not so easy. I think a good leader is able to reward people at the appropriate times and keep people motivated.” Being a business owner, an entrepreneur is difficult. There are a ton of changes, stresses, and risk that you have to endure. But, as Haykin said, “you always have to remember to thank people”. I believe that there are verbal and non-verbal ways to show your gratitude, but ultimately, gratitude is an attitude, a state-of-being. You cannot fake genuine gratitude. But living in a state of genuine gratitude for the things and people in your life, for the people that make your job easier and who fill the holes and gaps in your business or life, that you cannot fill yourself, will make a bigger difference than any amount of money or promotion. When people can feel your genuine gratitude, they work harder and become more loyal. People want to exist and work for a business that has a positive culture of growth and gratitude.