A coLAB Reflection for Week 1 of The Leader’s Reset
In mission-driven work, leaders spend their days creating clarity, stability, and forward movement for others. They navigate complexity, hold space for competing needs, and make decisions that ripple across teams and communities. What often gets missed in the midst of all that responsibility is one of the simplest and most grounding practices we have: gratitude.
Gratitude isn’t soft.
It isn’t extra.
And it shouldn’t be a vague feeling reserved for holidays or quiet mornings.
Gratitude is a leadership strategy.
A tool that lifts us out of urgency and re-centers us in what’s working, what’s meaningful, and what we want to build more of.
Why Gratitude Matters for Leaders
Leaders, especially those serving mission-driven organizations, are constantly pouring themselves out. Their attention is pulled toward what’s next, what’s urgent, what’s broken, or what’s possible. Gratitude interrupts that cycle in three powerful ways:
1. Gratitude shifts perspective from scarcity to strength.
Mission-driven work can feel like a never-ending scan for gaps, needs, and risks. Gratitude brings us back to the strengths, relationships, and progress that are already present.
Harvard Business Review notes that gratitude helps leaders “broaden their thinking and boost resilience,” allowing them to see possibilities rather than just problems.
HBR: “Why Gratitude is good for business”
It doesn’t erase challenges — but it gives us the clarity and calm needed to respond wisely.
2. Gratitude slows the pace just long enough for awareness to catch up.
Leaders rarely stop to honor what they’ve carried or accomplished. Gratitude creates a reflective pause — a moment to acknowledge the work, not just push through it.
“Gratitude helps people feel more grounded, present, and aware of the good in their lives—even when the work is demanding.”
Dr. Robert Emmons, UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center
This isn’t indulgent; it’s stabilizing.
3. Gratitude reconnects leaders to their purpose.
When we take stock of the people, opportunities, and small wins that shaped a year, we reconnect with why the work matters.
Purpose isn’t found in a vision statement.
It’s felt in the everyday moments we’re grateful for.