As Thanksgiving approaches and the dining rooms of America fill with the aromas of turkeys, cranberries, and all the other trimmings, people will gather under the auspices of giving thanks for what matters...their families, their belongings, their careers. And as the country does year after year, over the next few weeks as Christmas approaches, the tenor of communication will have disintegrated back into some ongoing sense of “what's in it for me?”
As somebody who has received his share of ill-chosen ties and books through the years around the holidays, I can personally tell you that Christmas is when people seem to focus on themselves more than they might realize, especially in terms of gift giving and receiving. Regardless of the religious origins of the holiday, self-centered behavior is just built into the nature of any holiday where people exchange presents. It would be interesting if we had a meter and could gauge, for any random family exchanging items around a tree, how many things were given out of love and respect and how many were intended subconsciously to impress, influence, or control others.
Which introduces the concept of gratitude, which by itself is a noble thing. Many great societal movements have doubtlessly been driven at their lowest level by simple graciousness and appreciation. As leaders, there are times we may feel like we owe somebody gratitude for a favor, or for a job well done. Since we have been conditioned from childhood with so many of the wrong-minded gifts, we tend to humanly want to give extra consideration for people who genuinely deserve our thanks, especially when they know just what it is that we need.
I ask you today, over your Thanksgiving break, during a time of thanks, to think through the people you might be giving extra consideration to because of their uncommon understanding and insight into your goals and ambitions. Decide if, around the Christmas tree, they would be handing you something that would be placed on a closet shelf until the spring’s first yard sale, attempting to influence you with a token thought or idea. Those who do not are the ones you should be very grateful for this holiday season.
