Thanksgiving is a time to practice gratitude, but as leaders, we should also savor moments and experiences by deliberately lingering on good things to improve mental health, resilience and optimism, writes leadership coach Ivan Joseph. Practices like celebrating achievements, incorporating reflection into routines and using visual reminders of success can help you and your teams savor moments, leading to increased innovation and productivity, Joseph notes.

Put it into practice: Use your Thanksgiving meal to practice savoring by asking others to share a moment they're grateful for or recount a positive memory and focus on the taste, texture and smell of the food to enjoy the meal fully, Joseph suggests. "After all, great leaders don't just achieve -- they savor."

Senior leaders play a crucial role in creating a positive work culture by modeling organizational values, communicating them regularly, hiring employees who align with these values and holding everyone accountable, says S. Chris Edmonds. "These critical practices require senior leaders' intention and attention every day. There's no quick fix," Edmonds notes.

Put it into practice: Top leaders must be on the lookout for employees who demonstrate valued behaviors and reward them for it, Edmonds notes. "Validating 'great citizenship' is a powerful way to reinforce your ideal work culture."

If you take a few minutes each morning to reflect on moments of gratitude you've received from your family members, it can make you a better leader at work by increasing your prosocial behavior, which makes you more helpful and empowering toward employees, according to research from the University of Florida. "Our research suggests that positive events that happen at home don't need to stay there," says professor Klodiana Lanaj. "Instead, they can follow leaders at work in ways that benefit their employees."

Put it into practice: Researchers suggest taking time each morning to recall when a family member showed appreciation for something you did and write down what they said and how it made you feel. "Perceiving that you've made a difference in the lives of those you love satisfies basic psychological needs, which then carry over into the office by motivating you to be more helpful and empowering toward your direct reports," says researcher Klodiana Lanaj.

When a top performer on your team turns in their resignation, it's vital to understand why, writes Purpose Linked Consulting CEO Alaina Love, who suggests seeking honest feedback to uncover cultural or other issues that led to the decision to head off further losses and improve retention. Always respond with grace to team departures and seek to maintain the relationship should you get the chance to rehire them or work with them again, Love advises.

Nathalie Grenache, Sanofi's chief HR officer, implemented the Ulrich model to transform HR into a strategic partner, challenging her HR team to be business leaders. "We need very strong business partners who will be with our leaders and make sure we retain employees, with the right rewards, and have the right capabilities," says Grenache, who points out the change has reduced turnover and received positive feedback from employees and executives.

"Demure" went viral over the summer, experiencing a 1,200% increase in usage, to become Dictionary.com's 2024 word of the year, coming in ahead of other buzzwords such as "brat," "weird" and "brainrot." Demure's surge was primarily due to TikToker Jools Lebron, whose satirical videos featuring the phrase "very demure, very mindful" captivated audiences and contributed to the word's widespread popularity.

Walt Musial, a principal engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, discusses the current state of the US offshore wind industry. Musial outlines progress in key regions like the Northeast, where gigawatt-scale projects are actively under construction. Musial discusses the ramifications of renegotiations of power purchase agreements and the mixed outcome of recent offshore wind lease auctions. On the technology front, Musial goes into great detail about the potential of floating wind technology, which offers flexible siting and cost benefits when compared to fixed-bottom turbines.

SmartBrief will be closed Nov. 28-29 for the US holiday. It will resume publication on Monday, Dec. 2.

This holiday weekend in the US is a good time to begin a practice of savoring, as Ivan Joseph suggests in his article. Savoring the good moments in life involves being fully present, grateful and intentional in how you experience and remember those times.

Savoring involves being genuinely present in each moment, taking in the smells, colors, sounds and textures around you. It may be the laughter of children around the table this Thanksgiving or the hug from a loved one, the aroma of the food cooking in the kitchen and the bright colors of the season. Be grateful for everything you notice and take some mental snapshots so you can come back to this moment and enjoy it all over again later.

Share your savoring joy with others and use it to be mindful of how fleeting the moments can be in our lives. When we realize this moment will soon be leaving us, we can cherish it even more and become more present in what is happening now.

Keep the practice of savoring going after the holiday by creating daily rituals, pausing to take in what's going on around you while you have your morning coffee, family dinners or evening walks. Reflect on the things you've savored and share them with others in the form of stories, or write them down in a journal to document them for others or just yourself.

However you choose to savor the moments during this holiday weekend, I wish each of you a wonder-filled time with family and friends.

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