Last Friday, the MSIS managers met to look back at the last
year and reflect and share what we were grateful for in the past year. Our goals for the session were to give each
manager the opportunity to share the positive things that had happened over the
last year, take time to celebrate our successes, feel invigorated, empowered,
and supported by our peers and leave with a desire to express gratitude to our
teams.
April Jefferson, our change coach, designed a “Draw and Tell” exercise where we drew pictures in
response to a series of questions, starting with “What are you most grateful
for this year?” After taking time to draw,
each person shared their picture and explained what it meant. As April explained the exercise, the reception in the room was cool at best. While there wasn’t an audible groan,
most of the group were not thrilled to be doing a drawing exercise.
April chose drawing purposefully. Drawing is very creative and strengthens
memories and experiences. Drawing also
produces positive brain chemistry that increased overall state of alertness.
The managers were good sports and doodled their response to the first question. As they shared, the energy in the room changed. Positive feelings of support and gratitude filled the room when each person shared their stories in response to the question, “Who in the management team are you grateful for and how have they supported you this year?” There was laughter and joking and genuine displays of excitement from the managers as they listened to each other sharing their stories.
As we left, we challenged each manager to share their gratitude
with each member of their team. When we
meet in January, we will share our stories about what happened when we shared
our gratitude.
I hope all of you experience similar feelings of support and
gratitude. It has been a productive and wonderful year in MSIS. Please take a
few minutes to write down what you are grateful for. You can use the “Draw and Tell” exercise if you find it helpful.
I am so grateful for each member of MSIS and the opportunity I
have had to work with you over the last five years. You are an amazing group of people that I
feel privileged to know.
Have a great holiday and enjoy your family and friends!
Cindy
I am starting to blog externally about our experiments to infuse positivity in MSIS. Please check out my LinkedIn article (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/time-reflection-gratitude-cindy-leavitt?trk=hp-feed-article-title-like)
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