Leadership often brings responsibility and recognition. But it also raises an important question:
How should we handle what we’ve been given?
It’s easy to focus on our achievements, our position, or our authority. Thankfulness, though, helps us see leadership differently.
Rather than asking, “What do I deserve as a leader?” thankfulness leads us to ask, “How can I use what I have to help others?”
Leadership Is an Opportunity
A leadership role shouldn’t be taken for granted. Whether you lead a team, serve in ministry, manage an organization, mentor others, or influence your community, leadership gives you opportunities to make a difference.
Thankfulness helps us see these opportunities.
It reminds us that leadership isn’t just about what we get. It’s also about what we can give.
The people who trust us, the responsibilities we have, the skills we’ve learned, and the chances we’ve been given can all be ways to serve others.
Remember Who Helped You Get Here
No leader reaches their position entirely on their own.
Think about those who have invested in you. Maybe someone taught you something, encouraged you when you doubted yourself, gave you a chance, pushed you to grow, or just believed in you.
Thankfulness lets us acknowledge those people.
Remembering those who helped us can change how we lead. The encouragement we received can become encouragement we give. The chances others gave us can inspire us to do the same for someone else.
What you received can become something you pass on to others.
Thankfulness Changes How We See People
It’s easy to notice what needs fixing, what isn’t finished, or what could improve.
Those things are important. Leaders should face challenges and strive to improve. But if that’s all we focus on, we may miss people who are already making a difference.
Thankfulness helps us notice those who regularly show up and go above and beyond.
When we take time to notice these contributions, people feel appreciated and valued. Leadership looks like simply saying, “I see what you’re doing, and I appreciate it.”
Thankfulness and Servant Leadership
For Christian leaders, thankfulness means even more.
Our leadership is not ultimately about elevating ourselves. Jesus modeled leadership through humility, service, compassion, and putting others' needs before His own.
When we see our gifts, abilities, opportunities, and influence as gifts we’ve been trusted with, our perspective can shift.
We don’t lead because we deserve it.
We lead because Christ served us first.
This way of thinking can affect our decisions, how we treat others, and how open we are to sharing what we know.
Lead With Open Hands
Entitlement says, “This belongs to me.”
Thankfulness says, “I’ve been trusted with this. How can I use it well?”
This doesn’t mean leaders shouldn’t notice their achievements or feel proud of good work. It means remembering that leadership is about more than personal success.
Your position can be an opportunity to encourage someone.
Your experience can be an opportunity to teach.
Your influence can be an opportunity to advocate for someone else.
Your knowledge can be an opportunity to develop another leader.
Your time can be an opportunity to serve.
When we lead with thankfulness, we notice more of what we have and think more carefully about how we use it.
A Leadership Reflection
This November, take some time to think about your own leadership.
Ask yourself:
- What are you thankful for?
- Who has invested in you?
- What opportunities have you been given?
- Who can you encourage because someone once encouraged you?
- What can you share with someone who is still learning?
- How can you use your influence to serve rather than succeed?
Thankfulness doesn’t mean we ignore the hard parts of leadership. It means choosing to notice the people, opportunities, lessons, and blessings there, too.
When thankfulness shapes how we lead, leadership becomes less about what we think we deserve and more about what we can give.
We don’t lead because we deserve a position. We lead because we’ve been trusted with a chance to serve others and honor God.
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."Colossians 2:6-7, NKJV