E05: A Season of Thanks: Cultivating Gratitude in the Newsroom

Dr. Kortni (00:00)
Welcome to the Compassionate Newsroom podcast. I'm Dr. Courtney Alston-Lemon. I'm a former television reporter and news director turned happiness scholar. I train news leaders and journalists internationally to foster workplace well-being, resilience, and a positive culture in their newsrooms.

Every week I'll bring you evidence-based strategies and inspiring interviews from news leaders, journalists, and experts worldwide who prioritize the mental health of their teams and themselves. Let's redefine what it means to lead with compassion in journalism, one episode at a time.

Dr. Kortni (00:38)
Happy Wellbeing Wednesday. Welcome to episode five. I'm your host, Dr. Kortni I'm here to help you navigate the challenges of leading with empathy and care, especially when it comes down to high pressure situations, and particularly the high pressure work in the world of news. Now here in the United States, it is the week of Thanksgiving.

I don't even consider it just a day. I consider the whole week, right? Into my family. And it's that time of the year where Turkey isn't the only thing on the table. Joining the celebration is gratitude. A time to reflect and express our appreciation. But believe it or not, gratitude isn't just a family fun activity. It can be a powerful practice at work.

Today, I'm guiding you through why gratitude is crucial for positive workplace and how to implement gratitude exercises in your team meetings, your workshops and retreats. Now, gratitude isn't just something that's just nice to have, it's a must have. It's a must have for mental and our physical health. Now, let's talk about some of the significant benefits that gratitude brings, especially when you practice it regularly.

First, reducing depression. Research involving about 26,000 people found that higher levels of gratitude are associated with lower levels of depression. Grateful people tend to enjoy stronger social relationships and higher, higher self-esteem, which can buffer against the negative effects of stress and sadness. Next.

Let's talk about anxiety. Anxiety often traps us in a cycle of negative thoughts about the past or even potential future disappointments. Gratitude breaks this cycle. Gratitude anchors us. It anchors us in the present, helping us focus on what we have, not on what we lack or even fear.

Gratitude is a powerful stress reliever. It can calm our bodies, our breathing, and it aids in our overall relaxation.

But this is something I often talk about a lot when I'm training news leaders. And that is gratitude helps with sleep. Yes, can't overlook rest. Grateful people tend to engage in healthier behaviors to maintain a positive outlook, which promotes better sleep quality. So positive thoughts at bedtime about one's life.

And things that have happened well throughout today, and also that level of support can lead to deeper and more restful sleep. I often say, instead of counting sheep, count blessings. Now, before we kind of dive in to the practices of gratitude and leadership, It's important to acknowledge the work of experts in the field. One such resource is Positive Psychology in Business 101 Workplace Ideas and Applications is written by Sarah Lewis. It is a book that follows me everywhere. In her book, Lewis provides insightful frameworks as it relates to gratitude. And she's also inspiring this discussion today on integrating gratitude into our daily leadership practices. This is a structured approach to appreciation that's not just about uplifting, but it's about being transformative, transformative as it relates to your team environment.

I have embraced her methods in my meetings. And I will say it's wonderful to see how people respond to them. I have embraced them in my meetings at the university. I've also embraced them in my monthly meetings as the founding co-chair of the National Association of Black Journalists Wellness Task Force. Every month when we come together.

We start off our meetings with a strength-based question, and that is normally what we're grateful for. So there's so many benefits to embracing gratitude practices at the beginning of meetings. You can also do it at the end of meetings. The simple practice can really transform the tone, the tone of a meeting. Even in a newsroom culture. So think about what and how you can add that within your meetings. But I'm gonna walk you through really a structured way to do it. So at the start of a meeting, give everyone a moment of silence, just a minute or two to reflect. Ask them to write down three things that they're grateful for. Now giving them that moment to reflect allows them to think through their response, opposed to, let's go around the room and everyone just share what they're grateful for. That moment of reflection really gives them an opportunity to sit or better yet savor that grateful reflection. Now, when it comes down to structuring that conversation in regards to the activity, first, you can start with, think about three things. The first one, gratitude for a colleague. This could be a specific person or the team as a collective. Perhaps someone had helped meet a really tough deadline or maybe the teamwork on a recent special project in the newsroom was really particularly impressive. So that's a way of having

Then think of one element, one, remember out of the three, here's the second one, gratitude for the organization. This might relate to resources provided, the mission of the organization, or recent achievements that made everyone feel proud. What did that look like? I will tell you, my husband is a reporter in Charlotte for an incredible station, WSOC-TV. When they were celebrating Ken's 25, 26 years on air, he thought it was interesting that they asked, hey, Ken, we need you to come to the main station because my husband is actually the Gaston County Bureau reporter. So he operates in another office. And so he comes in that day and...

He was greeted by a sea of yellow, yellow representing our last name, Lemon. Everyone was wearing like yellow shirts. It was, I believe, hot that day. And his news director was wearing, I believe, a yellow sweater. They had lemon Oreos. It was just a fun day.

Acknowledging an incredible human being, an amazing man and journalist for his dedication and everyone contributed. So that moment, I remember coming home talking about how grateful he was for his newsroom, his organization, every level of leadership that makes up his organization, grateful for, general manager, news director, producers. There wasn't a person that my husband missed because that's how grateful he is and was for that day and continues to be. Because think about it, when he reflects on it, it allows us to go right back there. It allows us to go be present.

On that very day, even though I wasn't in the room. I feel like I was there every time he shares what he's grateful for for that moment and grateful for, for his organization. So that was number two. Here's number three. The third one, Sarah Lewis says, make it a free choice. Make it a free choice - anything goes, whether it's professional or personal, something small like a good cup of coffee. I've had those moments. Like, wow, that coffee was great. Or it can be something huge, huge as relates to a family achievement. It could be something as relates to health. Being grateful for the good health of yourself or a loved one and you want to share it in your newsroom. So this gratitude activity really is powerful. It's very powerful. And think about this. After everyone has a moment to jot down their thoughts and you go around the room and everyone shares.

This doesn't have to take long, but the act of voicing gratitude, just the act of just being able to share can really help boost morale. And it can remind everyone of the positive aspects to their work and the environment.

So that's why I say, why just stop it at meetings, right? Consider making gratitude a regular part of your workshops or retreats. It can set a positive tone and it can help in regards to any event encouraging openness and connection among team members. Imagine.

Just imagine this, ending a busy year, you're at your retreat where your team is strategizing for the year ahead and you reflect. As a team, you reflect on the past year's successes and challenges, but you reflect through the lens of gratitude. This can lead to a deeper understanding of each other's experiences and even stronger connection as relates to working as a team. So as we give thanks this Thanksgiving, let's carry the spirit of gratitude into our professional lives. Integrating gratitude into our daily or weekly routines can be a game changer.

It can be a game changer for the wellbeing as it relates to your newsroom. Thank you so much for joining me today on the Compassionate Newsroom. Remember, I am always cheering you on as you lead your newsrooms with kindness and care, but don't forget self-compassion because it starts with you. Until next time, remember to take a moment to reflect on what you are grateful for.

And not just during the holiday season, but every day of the year.

Dr. Kortni (13:27)
Thanks for tuning into the Compassionate Newsroom podcast. Together we can transform workplace wellbeing in news. If you found value in today's episode, please share it with a colleague to help foster a supportive environment in the industry. And don't forget to subscribe and also visit our website for more resources at thecompassionatenewsroom.com.