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November 2025

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Making Everyone on Staff Feel Appreciated

Research suggests that showing gratitude to staff is the easiest, fastest, and most inexpensive way to improve performance and enhance enthusiasm about work. Leaders can demonstrate gratitude through meaningful affirmations, and they can afford their staff quality time through meaningful interactions.

Ways to Show Gratitude

One way to show staff your gratitude is through gratitude conferences. The purpose of these meetings is to give staff authentic praise via personalized and specific gratitude statements. I recommend that leaders utilize a calendar to allocate time each day for these conferences, so that they become a priority and then a routine. Having a plan of action is key.

In addition to being gratitude cheerleaders, school leaders are charged with being coaches who are responsible for developing their staff’s capacity. How can a leader show gratitude while still being intentional about developing all of their staff members and engaging them as individuals? Leaders can facilitate 15-minute meetings with every staff member to learn about their strengths, areas of growth, and professional goals, and how they prefer to be coached.

After conducting initial one-on-one meetings with each staff member, it’s highly recommended that leaders set quarterly follow-up dates that afford them the opportunity to meaningfully engage with staff every 45 days. Meeting frequently with your entire staff may sound overwhelming and time-consuming; however, when leaders make it a priority and adhere to a protocol, it can be accomplished.

A Reluctance to Show Gratitude

Unfortunately, research shows that leaders in higher level positions tend to express gratitude less than their subordinates.

Why is it so hard for some leaders to express gratitude? Perhaps it can be attributed to what researchers Paul Rozin and Edward Poyzman coined as negativity bias, a cognitive bias that explains why negative events or feelings typically have a more significant impact on our psychological state than positive events or feelings, even when they are of equal proportion.

Leaders can manage their negativity bias by practicing mindfulness, self-awareness, and positive thinking. In doing so, a leader is more likely to highlight the positives and be more grateful for the contributions of their staff.

The role of a school leader is not easy, but when a leader is intentional about showing authentic gratitude and meaningfully engaging their staff, teacher retention, productivity, and morale increase, which in turn makes leading easier and more rewarding.

*Excerpts taken from “Making Everyone on Staff Feel Appreciated” by Crystal J. Caballero
www.edutopia.org – Edutopia, George Lucas Learning Foundation.

Activity of the Month!

Turkey Headbands

Materials Needed:

• Brown Construction Paper (For the headband)
• Construction Paper in Assorted Colors (For the feathers, beak, and wattle)
• Scissors
• Glue Sticks
• Tape or Stapler
• Googly Eyes

This wearable craft lets children turn into festive little turkeys! Start by cutting long strips of brown construction paper to fit around each child’s head and staple or tape them into headbands. Next, have the children cut out colorful feathers from construction paper and glue them to the back of the band so they stick up like a turkey’s tail. For the turkey’s face, glue on googly eyes, add an orange triangle beak, and a red wattle cut from paper. Once finished, each child can proudly wear their turkey headband to celebrate Thanksgiving in style.

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