Being thankful even in difficult times can be challenging, but is a powerful mindset that can bring positivity and resilience to your life.
The Team at Blue Gum are in the process of redefining Business values and challenging established mindsets. Gratitude has been our focus at Blue Gum Country Estate during the month of July. A team who is thankful for each other is a team who will build each other up.
In a busy world, and what sometimes seems to be an even busier hospitality industry, when do we stop to allow time for gratitude? And why should we?
Tourism and Hospitality is built on the premise of providing a welcoming, friendly environment to guests. Most establishments train their staff on the importance of thanking guests and going above and beyond to ensure that they will choose to visit our establishment again in the future.
For us at Blue Gum gratitude needs to go deeper than this. We don’t need to just thank our guests, we need to establish a culture of gratitude within our team that leads to Acts of kindness, support and encouragement, positive feedback and public recognition
…and it starts at the top.
It Starts with You
So, how do we go about establishing a gratitude practice in our workplace? To do that you need to start with yourself. People are smart—they can sense “fake” gratitude, so it needs to be genuine.
For some people, gratitude comes naturally; it is one of their character strengths. For others, expressing thanks may feel awkward, so gratitude needs to be practiced daily to build this skill.
Start by taking five minutes at the end of the day before you fall asleep and write down three good things that happened to you that day, and why they happened.
Once you start taking just a few minutes each day to think about what went well, you will naturally find yourself seeking out and recognizing the good things in the moment.
Once you feel comfortable expressing gratitude, it’s time to share with your team and watch the magic happen! There are countless ways of establishing a gratitude practice in your team culture. One simple way to start is to call team members out on the great stuff they do and genuinely thank them for it.
Besides taking the time to notice and be outwardly grateful for the small things your team members do daily to contribute to the success of your vision and business, there are team-building gratitude activities you can initiate.
Try setting up a “Thanks for Being Awesome” board,where team members can write quick thank-you notes to each other and post them. A team who is thankful for each other is a team who will build each other up, and in turn build up your business.
Find the “Silver Lining”
This is an activity where team members (or family members or classmates) come together to discuss challenging situations or setbacks that occurred during the week or a specific project. Instead of dwelling on the negatives, the focus is shifted towards finding the positive aspects or lessons learned from these situations.
Try it! Share the difficulties you encountered – After identifying the challenges, the group can collectively brainstorm the “silver linings” or positive outcomes that resulted from those situations.
From team events and outings, to weekly gratitude emails, to shout-outs on your social media page, the possibilities are endless.
It is a small and simple change with little to no cost, and when it comes down to it… it just feels good. Here’s to GRATITUDE and THANKFULNESS and to personal and professional well-being!
Blue Gum Country Estate will continue to persue what it means to be a Grateful, and to continue to uphold that the true value of gratitude lies in creating meaningful and lasting connections, with guests, friends, family and staff.
“I’ve been to Blue Gum Country Estate on a number of occasions over the years and will keep coming back. I’ve yet to find fault of any kind – the accommodation venues are stylishly decorated and fitted, the restaurant’s cuisine is sublime, and the service from the staff is beyond standard duty, not to mention the gracious owners who are always so welcoming. To top it all, the location and it’s variety of activities is enough to keep any family/couple happy. And the views!” Tripadvisor Traveller
Beautiful article, so true and so inspirational. Bluegum and it’s family – all of them – just keeps getting better and better. 😇