Grateful Leadership by Judith Umlas - Book review

Grateful Leadership

Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results

By: Judith W. Umlas

Published: October 23, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0071799524
ISBN-13: 978-0071799522
Publisher: McGraw-Hill












"Grateful Leaders are those who see, recognizes, and express appreciation and gratitude for their employees' and other stakeholders' contributions and for their passionate engagement, on an ongoing basis", writes management training strategist and Senior Vice President at International institute for Learning, Judith Umlas, in her transformational and positive results oriented book Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results. The author describes how leaders can engage their employees more effectively, and achieve higher performance, through acknowledgement of staff achievements and expressing thanks and appreciation for their contribution to the success of the organization.

Judith Umlas turns conventional wisdom on its head by changing the dynamic from one where an employee is expected to be grateful simply to have a job, to one where leaders share their thanks to their employees for performing their jobs well. This complete juxtaposition of acknowledgement and gratitude forms the backbone of this revolutionary approach to leadership. Not only does the leader get to know and engage employees on a more personal level, but the entire organization benefits through higher performance levels, more engaged stakeholders, and an improved bottom line. Judith Umlas presents her strategies, techniques, and exercises for leaders to make the transition toward their new role as Grateful Leaders.

Judith Umlas (photo left) recognizes the the motivational power of praise and thanks to an employee, when received from an immediate manager or supervisor. At the same time, leaders who make themselves, and other organizational leaders, accessible to their employees, practice another form of grateful behavior. Through building a culture based on appreciation and gratitude, leaders inspire their employees to strive to always be better, to constantly improve the company, and enhance the overall results. This appreciation culture becomes one where gratefulness is expressed to customers and other stakeholders as well, further deepening and enriching the company culture.

Judith Umlas sets the stage and lays out the ground work for establishing an acknowledgment culture with what she calls the five C's. The 5C's are as follows:

* Consciousness: Being aware of the acknowledgements already in your mind
* Choice: Making the decision to choose to deliver an acknowledgement
* Courage: Overcome the fear of giving acknowledgements
* Communication: Tailor the acknowledgement to the individual
* Commitment: Make the acknowledgement a key part of your overall leadership

For me, the power of the book is how Judith Umlas combines a comprehensive overview and framework demonstrating the power of an acknowledgement culture, with the practical strategies and tools for becoming a Grateful Leader within that culture. The author offers a fresh approach to leadership that makes a real and very tangible transformation of any workplace culture into one of acknowledgement. At a time when employee engagement in so many companies is at an all time low, Judith Umlas shares a proven method to change the leadership dynamic in any organization.

The author demonstrates how an acknowledgement culture excels in the soft side management outcomes of motivation, inspiration, and engagement. At the same time, the bottom line outcomes of higher performance levels, superior results, and strong bottom lines will appeal to even the most traditional cultures. The acknowledgement leadership culture costs little in the way of resources, but provides enormous benefits for all stakeholders within and outside of the company.

I highly recommend the revolutionary and engagement building book Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results by Judith Umlas, to any leaders seeking a culture changing approach to engaging employees, improving their own leadership skill set, and improving the overall performance of the company. This book will speed the transition of anyone from ordinary leader to the status of Grateful Leader.