Thoughts on Leadership: Happy Thanksgiving!

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me at home, starting Monday with my typical WIG calls. On Tuesday, I visited a Bay area studio to record a voiceover for our HomeServices of America year in review video project and then at exactly 1:17 p.m. had my puppy pick-up at the San Jose International Airport. (Welcome to the family, June!) Today, I closed up the short holiday week and am looking forward to spending time with the family and little June, for which I am so grateful.

Read more: Thoughts on Leadership: Happy Thanksgiving!

And gratitude really is the name of the game this week. I feel grateful to have a job that’s my calling and for the opportunity to work every day with leaders who have become more like family. From service staff members to our CEOs, to our network brokers and owners, to our agents — everyone deserves my ultimate gratitude today and always. As I say, I love what I do largely because of who I get to do it with!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It’s non-denominational, making it more widely celebrated; and the Thanksgiving message of gratitude is such a fantastic way to commit to a positive mindset as we get close to the end of the year and get ready to start anew in 2023.

It’s not hard to get into the Thanksgiving spirit. We sit back, relax and eat delicious food. Plus, we have the Bills vs. the Lions, the Giants vs. the Cowboys and the Patriots vs. the Vikings to look forward to …

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

And Zig Ziglar reminded us, “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”

Oprah famously remarked: “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

One of my favorite leaders, John F. Kennedy said, “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”

So, what’s the message? I received this thought in my weekly CEO update from Shawna Alt, CEO of First Weber, and I liked it so much, I want to share it with all of you: “Please take the time this week to enjoy the people that mean the most to you. Cherish them for who they are, not who you wish they would be. There is so much power in letting go. Let go of assumptions. Let go of being offended. Don’t let the past cause resentment that interferes with the beauty of the present moment. Choose forgiveness. Choose gratitude. Choose love.”

Happy Thanksgiving!