Gratitude
Even amid a messy year, there’s still so much to be grateful for
It’s hard to believe that 2025 is rapidly coming to a close. Halloween is in the rearview mirror and Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away.
Here in Seattle, we’re settling in for the big dark—the stretch of winter when sunrise and sunset are barely seven hours apart and sunlight feels like a distant memory. Oh how I miss you, sun.
This year has brought a lot.
Political upheaval (which we should continue to resist), layoffs, friends with serious diagnoses, burnout, a job change … and more. So many people are struggling right now.
And yet my friend Tim Chester recently reminded me that I have so much to be grateful for (read his post here).
I have family and friends and a beautiful wife whom I adore. I live in a progressive city where I can walk or take public transit almost anywhere. I (now) have a job I love, a mission I believe in, and colleagues I genuinely enjoy and respect.
In the daily chaos and grind, it’s easy to forget all the good that exists in our lives.
But gratitude should not be a practice that we pull out alongside our cornucopias and Christmas trees once a year.
Gratitude is essential for our overall well-being. It’s important for us as individuals and imperative for us, as leaders, to foster a culture of gratitude in our teams.
It’s one of the simplest—and most powerful—things we can do. It just requires us to lead by example and make gratitude part of how we regularly show up in our work.
We can build it into standing routines—at Davidson, for example, I made shout-outs a recurring part of our weekly stand-ups. And we can create more formal moments of recognition through quarterly or annual awards that highlight specific behaviors or contributions.
All small acts, but together they add up to big impact.
As 2025 winds down, I’m especially grateful for the opportunity to continue writing and sharing my thoughts with all of you.
I so appreciate you sticking with me, passing my posts along to others, and letting me know when something resonates with you.
In this season of giving thanks—even with all the messiness around us—what are you most grateful for?
Bonus read: Looking for more ideas for building a culture of gratitude on your team? I shared some additional examples in this recent post:
