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3 Gratitude Habits for Business Leaders to Motivate Your Teams — and Yourself.

Practicing gratitude will not only help you focus on the positive, but it will also help boost team morale, employee engagement and — in turn — your profits. Try these three simple strategies you can turn into habits.

BY BARRY RABER • EDITED BY KARA MCINTYRE • MAY 17, 2023

A woman is presenting a pie chart during a business meeting with colleagues in a modern office.

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Though it wasn't a conscious effort, I began to collect strategies to recapture the happy, positive mindset of my twenties. I had previously thought that whether a person thinks the glass is half-full or half-empty was genetically hardwired. At some point, I realized that any hardwiring could be overpowered by events. My parents taught me that a positive attitude was the foundation for a good life. I never thought that maintaining one would take practice or need support, but as it turns out: It does.

Today, I practice three regular habits to keep my outlook positive.

1. "The Greatest Hits" meeting

As a business leader, most of the company's challenging issues make their way to your desk. When you see so many problems, you get the feeling that's all there is — problems. Rationally, you know that is not the case, but in order to instill the proper perspective, we started our "Greatest Hits" meetings.

Every week at 9 a.m., the key people in our company share their latest and greatest hits for 10 minutes. Prior to the meeting, they fill out our unique Post-It prompting their answers. Each person shares two examples of something they are proud of: either something noteworthy they saw someone else do or something that happened around the company. They then share a personal hit — something from their personal life that they are thankful for.

With six attendees, each week we hear 18 positive things that went right. In a year, that's almost 1,000 good things! Without this process, I would not even be aware of most of these 1,000 greatest hits. The huge benefit to me is a weekly reminder that 90% of things are going right, even when it feels like 90% are going wrong. It boosts team morale and confidence, too.

2. Thankful Thursday

Another habit I developed is now known as Thankful Thursday. Every Thursday afternoon, I express gratitude to others for what they have done for me over the prior week.

I use a few prompts for this. I jot down things as they happen on a "Grateful to You" notepad. I keep my post-it note from the Greatest Hits meeting to spark other ideas. I look at the prior week's calendar to jog my memory on everything I did and who I met with and review my phone pictures. I write it all down on the Grateful notepad, then decide how best to appreciate those people.

This practice has evolved to the point where I have a gratitude wall in my office with an array of cards I send people. I spend about 20 minutes sending out cards, letters, gifts, emails and entering relevant company items in a Core Value Highlights database.

This habit accomplishes more than you might think. Of course, it makes me realize all the things I have to be thankful for (usually four to eight each week) and appreciate them more.

With team members, it reinforces positive behavior, noteworthy actions and standout job performance. I find that people are universally motivated by being appreciated. When you do a good job of that, they are more motivated, repeat the excellent performance and enjoy better morale for feeling properly appreciated. I often see my notes on their office walls. I think doing a good job of appreciating people is a major contributor to the high ratings we receive on Glassdoor from former employees. In my experience, I receive five times the feedback from showing gratitude to team members compared with monetary recognition in the form of raises or profit sharing.

Non-employees also enjoy being recognized for doing something for the company. Handwritten thank-yous are rare enough now that sometimes I even get thank-yous for the thank-yous!

3. The 90/10 Rule

Think about it: most — let's say 90% — of the things that you worry may happen never come to pass. It might actually be more like 95%. When I first heard that 30 years ago, I didn't necessarily believe it. But after 30 years of observing what I stress or think about versus the final outcome, the rule is absolutely true.

The trick is to retrain your human nature that self-preserves by worrying to try not to worry while life is happening around you. That is probably a whole separate article unto itself — but if you can train yourself to only "worry" or dwell on something when it actually becomes a legitimate problem, you become 90% happier.

The habits I practice are by no means an all-inclusive list of how leaders can keep gratitude top-of-mind to elevate their companies and stay positive. But they are the three that I put into regular practice. Each has nuances that are beneficial to me and my team (or both).

No matter how you incorporate gratitude into your business, I encourage you to do so. Start now, get creative, experiment with different techniques and find what resonates most — because everyone benefits from an increase in gratitude and innovative ways to incorporate it.

n my 20s, it seemed easy to maintain a positive outlook on life. It was a simpler time with a lot less that could go wrong. As the years passed, I started collecting responsibilities — and bad things happened along with the good. When I started my company, I faced new, unchartered challenges. At one point, my business nearly collapsed. As a result, my outlook shifted to a more negative place. Business problems and other life responsibilities in 2007 took control and made some days outright bad ones. My tone changed from upbeat to downbeat. I started having trouble seeing the good in things. That change in outlook affected my health, inviting more "misfortune."

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Barry Raber, is an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Member, CEO of Business Property Trust, a Portland, Oregon, company that owns and manages RV storage through Carefree Covered RV Storage and self-storage through Bargain Storage. He is also a thought leader who shares experiences for businesses at Real Simple Business.

FAQ: 3 Gratitude Habits for Business Leaders to Boost Positivity and Motivate Teams

Why is it harder to stay positive as a business leader over time?

Because the older and more experienced you get, the more responsibilities you carry — and the more things that can and do go wrong. Barry Raber describes a shift that many leaders experience: in your twenties, maintaining a positive outlook feels natural and effortless. As the years pass, bad things happen alongside the good. Business challenges multiply. At one point, Raber's own business nearly collapsed, and by 2007, a combination of business problems and personal responsibilities made some days genuinely difficult. His tone shifted from upbeat to downbeat. His health suffered. What he once assumed was a fixed personality trait — optimism — turned out to be something that required active maintenance.

Can positivity actually be practiced, or is it just a personality trait?

It can absolutely be practiced — and it needs to be. Raber once believed that whether someone sees the glass as half-full or half-empty was genetically hardwired. He eventually realized that any hardwiring can be overpowered by events, and that maintaining a positive outlook takes deliberate practice and support. Just like physical fitness, positivity is something you have to work at consistently, not something that simply persists on its own.

What are the 3 gratitude habits business leaders can use to stay positive?

The three habits Barry Raber practices regularly to keep his outlook positive — and to motivate his team — are:

"The Greatest Hits" meeting — A weekly 10-minute meeting where team members share what went right, both professionally and personally.
Thankful Thursday — A weekly personal ritual of expressing gratitude to the people who made a positive difference that week, through notes, cards, gifts, or emails.
The 90/10 Rule — A mindset practice based on the insight that roughly 90% of the things you worry about never actually happen.

What is a "Greatest Hits" meeting and how does it work?

The Greatest Hits meeting is a weekly 10-minute gathering held every Monday at 9 a.m. Before the meeting, each attendee fills out a Post-It note with their answers to a simple prompt. Each person shares two professional hits — either something noteworthy they witnessed a colleague do, or something positive that happened in the company — plus one personal hit, something from their own life they're grateful for. With six regular attendees, that's 18 positive things heard in a single meeting. Over the course of a year, that adds up to nearly 1,000 good things that would otherwise go unnoticed and uncelebrated.

Why does a Greatest Hits meeting improve team morale and leadership perspective?

As a business leader, most of the challenging issues in the company eventually land on your desk. Seeing so many problems can create the distorted feeling that problems are all there is — even when you rationally know better. The Greatest Hits meeting counteracts that distortion by giving you a weekly, structured reminder that roughly 90% of things are going right, even on weeks when it feels like 90% are going wrong. That shift in perspective boosts the leader's own morale and confidence, and creates the same effect across the team by making wins visible and valued.

What is Thankful Thursday and how do you practice it?

Thankful Thursday is a weekly habit of deliberately expressing gratitude to people who made a positive difference in your life or work over the past week. Barry Raber practices it every Thursday afternoon using a combination of prompts: a "Grateful to You" notepad where he jots things down as they happen during the week, the Post-It from that week's Greatest Hits meeting, his previous week's calendar, and photos on his phone. He then spends about 20 minutes deciding how to best express appreciation — sending handwritten cards, letters, small gifts, emails, or entering items into a Core Value Highlights database. The result is typically four to eight genuine expressions of gratitude per week, and a gratitude wall in his office filled with the cards he's sent over the years.

Does expressing gratitude at work actually motivate employees better than raises?

Yes — significantly so, according to Raber's experience. He finds that he receives five times more positive feedback and behavioral impact from expressing genuine gratitude to team members compared to monetary recognition like raises or profit sharing. People are universally motivated by feeling appreciated. When recognition is specific, timely, and personal, it reinforces the exact behavior you want to see repeated — and it does so in a way that money simply can't replicate. Raber also attributes his company's strong Glassdoor ratings from former employees in large part to this consistent gratitude practice.

Why are handwritten thank-you notes so powerful in business?

Because they're rare. In an era dominated by text messages, emails, and Slack notifications, a handwritten note stands out immediately as something the sender took real time and care to create. Raber notes that his handwritten thank-yous have become so unexpected that he sometimes receives thank-yous for the thank-yous themselves. That reaction reflects how starved people are for genuine, personal recognition — and how powerful the simple act of putting pen to paper can be for a professional relationship.

What is the 90/10 Rule and how does it apply to business leadership?

The 90/10 Rule holds that roughly 90% — possibly as high as 95% — of the things you worry about never actually come to pass. Raber first heard this idea 30 years ago and spent the next three decades testing it against his own experience of what he stressed about versus what actually happened. His conclusion: the rule is absolutely true. The practical implication for leaders is to retrain your instinct to worry preemptively, and instead only engage with a problem when it becomes a real, concrete issue that actually requires your attention. Doing so doesn't eliminate vigilance — it eliminates the enormous emotional weight of anticipatory worry about things that will likely never materialize.

How does the 90/10 Rule make you a better leader?

When you stop spending mental and emotional energy on problems that haven't happened yet, you free up bandwidth for the work that actually matters — being present with your team, making good decisions, and maintaining the kind of steady, positive demeanor that people want to follow. Leaders who are chronically anxious or negative create cultures of anxiety and negativity. Leaders who practice the 90/10 Rule project a calm confidence that is both genuinely felt and contagious.

How does gratitude connect to business performance and profitability?

The connection is direct. When leaders practice gratitude consistently, team morale improves. Higher morale leads to better engagement. Better engagement leads to stronger performance, lower turnover, and a more positive customer experience. All of that flows through to the bottom line. Raber opens the article with exactly this chain of logic: practicing gratitude helps you focus on the positive, boosts team morale and employee engagement, and — in turn — improves profits. Positivity isn't a soft personal benefit separate from business results; it's a driver of them.

How do I start building a gratitude practice as a business leader?

Start small and build from there. Pick one of the three habits and try it for 30 days. The Greatest Hits meeting is a good starting point if you lead a team — it creates a shared ritual that builds culture while also shifting your own perspective. Thankful Thursday works well as a solo practice that gradually becomes a meaningful weekly anchor. The 90/10 Rule is purely a mindset shift that costs nothing and requires no one else. Raber emphasizes that the list of three is not exhaustive — the goal is to find what resonates for you and make it a consistent habit, not to replicate anyone else's exact system.