Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian correspondents. This is an ancient tradition, predating what our American cousins called "Thanksgiving" where according to the legend, the 'first' Europeans were so thankful to have arrived on the shores of what they were to eventually call the United States they sat down to share a meal with the indigenous people they met and thanked God for delivering them from the religious terrors of England. In actual fact, the act of thanksgiving has been a fundamental part of community living likely from the very first Homo Sapiens about 100,000 years ago, and may even have been part of Neanderthal community as well.  Thanking and being thanked may in fact be one of the deepest cravings of the human species. And this time of year, in the Northern Hemisphere would of course be, for the emerging (10,000 - 15,000 BCE) agricultural communities of Homo Sapiens, the time of the harvest. In parts of Canada we still call this holiday Harvest Thanksgiving.

For leaders, gratitude is absolutely vital. Did you know for example that one of the key motivating factors for employees is sincere thanks for a job well done? One of my favourite stories about gratitude involves the my boss in churchland, the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral here in Vancouver, The Very Rev. Dr. Peter Elliott. I was leaving my cathedral office for the day, and poked my nose into his office to say 'so long'. I said with a grin, "my work here is done!" He replied with his own grin and without missing a beat, "not by a long shot!" In that quick moment, a moment I'm not even sure he would remember, I felt affirmed and thanked and it frankly made me want to come back and work some more. And for those who don't know I am non-stipendiary clergy, I'm not paid to be there. I show up there and am productive while I'm there at least in part because of my relationship with my immediate supervisor, http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/01/18/why-are-so-many-employees-disengaged/ And one of the key reasons Peter is successful as a manager is that he understands gratitude.

So in the midst of our thanksgiving this weekend, I wonder whom have you thanked recently? Do you thank the people with whom you work regularly? Are you thanked regularly by your boss?

I have the immense pleasure of working with groups on a weekly, and sometimes even a daily basis. I have spoken to or facilitated three separate groups this week alone. And at the end of each session, the group has given me and our work a round of applause. I keep thinking, what would it be like to have workplaces where people were applauded as often as I am in my work! I think it would be rather wonderful frankly!

And so to all of you, where ever you are in the world, Happy Thanksgiving, and may it continue throughout the year!