“The ROI on simply saying “thank you” goes a long way – probably much
farther than you think.”
  – Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School

An executive shared that she typically can tell the level (seniority) of the individual she is working with by whether they express gratitude. That when she emails useful information to her CEO and other senior-level leaders, she usually receives a brief acknowledgement in the form of a short thank you reply email with a “t.u.” or 😊. She has observed that most of her junior clients do not acknowledge emails or say thank you.

In our chaotic, busy lives, many people overlook the importance of expressing gratitude. I’m not sure people do things in search of a thank you but a lack of expressed gratitude might make it less compelling for someone to go above and beyond for you in the future.

Good reasons to say thank you:

• Gratitude is an important leadership quality
• Expressing gratitude (or not) says something about who you are
• A meaningful way to differentiate yourself among others
• Shows you appreciate and respect the other person
• Generates positive feelings for yourself and the other person; such an easy way to make the world a better place
• Sets you up to receive the best from the other person
• Last, but not least, it’s the right thing to do

For more information and research read The Power of ‘Thanks’ by Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School