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10 Questions Guaranteed to Increase Your Gratitude & Incite it in Those You Lead.

Have you ever wondered how you can influence those you lead to be more thankful?  How about for yourself? Has the pace of your life and leadership circumcised thanks from your heart?

If you answered, “Yes!”, to any of these questions, this is a must read for you.

 

Why is an Attitude of Gratitude so Important?

Let’s start here, and then we will get to the 10 questions to incite and increase your gratitude levels and the levels of thankfulness in those you lead. You won’t want to miss!

1. It is essential for the PEACE of Christ to be AMPLE in our hearts.

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” ~ Colossians 3:15 – ESV

2. It is vital for the WORD of Christ to ABIDE in our lives.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” ~ Colossians 3:16 – ESV

Are you starting to get the idea that we need to take responsibility for our thankfulness meters, and that one of the greatest charges God has for our leadership is to lead others to be a thankful people?

3. It is integral to ABOUNDING in the work (the business / ministry) God has entrusted to us.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” ~ Colossians 3:17 – ESV

I know it may seem obvious, but I don’t want you to miss it. In just three short verses back to back, Paul drew attention to the attitude of gratitude. Whenever concepts are repeated in a relatively brief section of scripture, there is something there that God doesn’t want us to miss. I am convinced that guarding our attitudes is one of the greatest gifts we can give those we lead. Why? Because our attitudes impact our actions, and our actions impact and shape the kind of cultural environments we create in our families and work/ministry places. Creating an environment of gratitude will give us an advantage over those without thankful hearts. To consider 4 other practical ways to improve our lives and leadership through gratitude click here to read an encouraging post from Michael Hyatt about The Gratitude Advantage.

10 Questions to Incite and Increase Gratitude

Now, here are the 10 questions that I guarantee will cause you to be overwhelmed with an attitude of gratitude.

I can’t take credit for these. These came from the heart of a GREAT leader: my wife. She has a great gift for creating special times for our family. She came up with these questions for us to discuss during and after our Thanksgiving meal last year.
 
It was a wonderful time of worship, fun, connecting, and celebrating! I walked away with a full stomach, a full soul, and a bullet point list of God’s faithfulness that still inspires me. Plus it kept the typical mayhem and antics of our kids to a minimum, without one reference to potty humor or other bodily functions!
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  1. Name 1 thing about God that you are thankful for.

  2. What is one article of clothing/shoes that you are thankful for?

  3. What is one animal you are thankful for?

  4. Besides God and our family members, name one person you are thankful for and why.

  5. What Thanksgiving food are you most thankful for?

  6. Name one thing that starts with the letter “T” (or replace with a different letter) that you are thankful for.

  7. What is one book, besides the Bible, that you are thankful for and why?

  8. Name one song you are thankful for, besides “Let it Go” or “Everything is Awesome.”

  9. Name one thing that starts with the letter “G” (or replace with another) besides God that you’re thankful for.

  10. Name one activity that you are thankful for?

I encourage you, no I challenge you, to schedule some time, even if it’s just 15 minutes today or tomorrow, to use some (or all) of the questions to discuss with those you lead at work, in your church, organization or community. Obviously, you may need to adapt a few of the questions to fit your unique setting. Or if you don’t own your own business or lead a team of any kind, grab a couple of co-workers over lunch and discuss them.  And be sure you do so with your family and friends sometime during your Thanksgiving celebrations. You will be so GRATEFUL you did! If you accept this challenge I would absolutely LOVE to hear about how it went: especially the benefits you experienced by increasing your own levels of gratitude and helping to increase it in others. Not only would it increase my gratitude to God, I would also like to include some of your observations and learnings (without referencing you or your organization specifically) in a future post should there be enough of you who respond. I also want to encourage you to expand the reach of your influence by sharing this post through one of the social media links below. On behalf of KWM, and from the grateful hearts of the Anderson family, Happy thanksgiving everyone!  I am definitely thankful for all of you!

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