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You are moving to a new place to live or to work. What are you bringing with you? What are your keepsakes? If you mentioned thank-you notes, cards, and/or letters, you're not alone.
At times, the impact of sending these items is underestimated. I wrote on this subject in a recent HPSG Pulse blog post that I shared on LinkedIn.
We all have experiences that make a difference in our lives long after the experience. When I was 16 years of age, my grandfather L. L. Studer passed away. He had been the general storekeeper for the Missouri Pacific Railroad and mayor of Sedalia, Missouri.
At the wake and funeral, the lines were long. People mentioned receiving a letter from my grandfather and the impact it had. After the funeral, we went to my grandparents' home. I ventured into a room that had filing cabinets. My curiosity led me to open the cabinets. In them were hundreds of carbon copies of letters my grandfather had written. The dots were connected to the people who had come to the wake to pay respects to him. His letters had touched them.
Did my grandfather realize the impact his letters had? Did he realize the impact they would have on me? Maybe not. Over the years, I have written letters to recognize people in a variety of ways. Some have been handwritten, some typed. The key is that they are specific and individualized.
In my presentations, I ask attendees how many of them have received a thank-you note from someone in a leadership role. Hands go up. I then ask when they throw the notes away. The common answer is never.
Someday I may author a book that covers what people have shared with me on the power of notes. From thank-yous to congratulations to expressions of sympathy, notes are impactful.
A few suggestions for maximizing the impact of thank-you notes:
1. Put on your schedule a time to write notes. It is fine to also do this spontaneously; however, still set a time.
2. While email and texts are fine, sending a note or letter to the person's home is most impactful.
3. Ask for help. You cannot be everywhere or know everything that is taking place. Ask others to send you names of people and why they believe those individuals should be recognized. When I was president of a hospital, a nurse manager wrote to me about a nurse who was doing something on the unit that was improving nurse satisfaction. We ended up scaling what was being done and implementing it in every area. I would not have learned this if I did not ask for others to send me such information.
4. Do not feel you need to be in a certain role to write a thank-you note. Send one to your supervisor and others in the organization. The same goes for community members. There is no cap on expressing gratitude.
I know many of you have your own experiences and examples. Please send them to me at Quint@QuintStuder.com.
I appreciate your taking time to read this column. If it were not for you, I would not have the opportunity to share the stories and lessons that matter most to me. Consider this my thank-you note to you.
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Quint Studer is the author of 16 books on leadership in the workplace and the community. His book Building a Vibrant Community is a valuable resource for civic leaders, business owners, and all citizens who have a stake in building a community they can be proud to call home. In Sundays with Quint, he shares a selection of his popular leadership columns for leaders, employees, and business owners in all industries. He can be reached at Quint@QuintStuder.com.