Aug. 25, 2024
The Gratitude Strategy: Transforming Workplace Culture with Lisa Ryan
In this episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we explore the transformative power of the gratitude strategy with entrepreneur and speaker Lisa Ryan. Lisa shares her journey from being laid off to building a successful speaking business centered on gratitude. We delve into the practical steps of her gratitude strategy, the impact it has on workplace culture, and how it can help retain top talent. Lisa also discusses the challenges and opportunities of managing a multi-generational workforce and offers actionable advice for leaders to create a positive and inclusive work environment. Don’t miss Lisa’s insights on how gratitude can rewire your brain, improve your health, and enhance your relationships both at work and home!
Please be sure to follow, rate, review, and share this episode to as many people as possible.
www.lisaryanspeaks.com
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome, um, to the Living the Dream podcast with curveball. Um, if you believe you can achieve Chee Chee, welcome to the Living a dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire. Today we're going to be talking about the gratitude strategy as I'm joined by entrepreneur and speaker, Lisa Ryan. Lisa, uh, built a speaking business from the ground up with the gratitude strategy, so we're going to be talking to her about what that is and everything that she's up to. So, Lisa, thank you so much for joining me today.
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> Lisa Ryan>Hey, it is a thrill to be here. Thanks for having me.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?
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> Lisa Ryan>Sure. I am born and raised in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio. I have 26 years, including, uh, seven years in the welding industry, which is why my speaking business. I really like manufacturing, construction, skilled trades. I like being around people who are passionate about things that nobody else on the planet thinks about. Uh, I went from industrial sales to medical sales, and basically when my medical sales position was eliminated via group conference call, with twelve of us getting canned at the same time on October 12, 2010, I decided to start my speaking business on that day, and the rest is pretty much history. Um, I had a personal connection with gratitude from some work that I had done, and I really knew to the core of my being that that was supposed to be the message that I was bringing.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So explain to everybody what the gratitude strategy is and how you created it.
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> Lisa Ryan>Well, it starts with a personal practice of Gratigi, because when you're talking about workplace culture, a lot of times it becomes a check mark.
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> Lisa Ryan>Managers are like, uh, what do I need to engage my employees this week?
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> Lisa Ryan>And it just becomes something to do, but they don't have a connection with it. But if you take a step back and you start with yourself, trying to find the good in ordinary life, it makes a huge difference. So my practice started with a, ah, gratitude journal with some friends. Um, I saw the responses from that for myself, and it does rewire your brain over time. So that's why I always talk about that consistent practice, because when you have one, you're again, you know, even in, uh, times when it's difficult, when it's challenging, when you're sad, when you're depressed, any of that. If you can find one good thing, then it helps to elevate your mood and get you out of that.
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> Lisa Ryan>So the gratitude strategy is really starting by finding the good, acknowledging it in yourself and others, and then really creating that culture of appreciation in the workplace.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Tell the listeners what you actually speak about in your speaking business. So if we called you and said, hey, Lisa, we want you to come speak this weekend, what would you talk to us about?
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> Lisa Ryan>Yeah, I have three different programs, um, and they all have to do with workplace culture. The one that I get asked to do the most is on how to keep your top talent from becoming someone else's.
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> Lisa Ryan>So we look at things of, um, I, uh, call them the gears of gratigy. I just wrote, I linked an article on LinkedIn about them, but it really starts with attitude of having the right attitude to make the commitment, to realize that, um, you know, things may need to change in your business, in your life. From there, it goes to that personal practice of appreciation.
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> Lisa Ryan>And then when you're able to find the good, you're more likely to give your employees access to you, access to yourself, uh, access to training, access to resources. So kind of opens that up, and then it goes to the applause step where we have tangible, um, recognition of people, letting them know that we appreciate them. From there, it goes into acts of service, because people today want to be part of a mission that's bigger than they are. And then finally we end with accountability, that this is a process. This is not one and done. So generally, when I have leaders and managers and, uh, people in the c suite, owners that are in the program, I focus on workplace culture because it starts with them. Um, if I have more of a mixed audience, then I'm going to focus on my basically pure gratitude talk.
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> Lisa Ryan>And that one, I call it my show talk because that's my acronym. Um, the s in show is for yourself. How it starts to change your perspective, how it rewires your brain. The h is the health benefits, because there are plenty better sleep, better, stronger immune system, um, less stress. There's a lot of things that can help you physically.
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> Lisa Ryan>And then the o in show is your relationship with others. So these are the people outside the workplace that a lot of times we take out our nasty moods on them.
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> Lisa Ryan>But when we have a practice of gratitude, we can at least get to neutral before we come home from a hard day at work. And then finally, the w is taking it into the workplace.
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> Lisa Ryan>And that's actually the right order because you find the good. So your brain gets rewired, you start to feel better, your relationships at home get better, and then you bring that person into the workplace. So that's the second one. And that would be if I have a mixed audience. So there's managers and, uh, individual contributors and then my last one that I don't get as often anymore, but people will still ask for it, is the generations in the workplace, because we have, um, five generations in the workplace, four of which are active. And it's, uh, realizing that people look at the world differently based on when they were born. And that program, I consider myself an equal opportunity offender when it comes to the generations, because for far too long, there was, um, every generational program was, in short, a millennial bashing program. And for goodness sake, millennials are in their forties now, so we have to leave these people alone.
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> Lisa Ryan>But, you know, people see the world differently, um, based on what they were exposed to in their life. So anything that has to do with workplace culture, positivity, inspiration, you know, those three programs kind of work nicely into that bucket.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, talk about the generational, because, you know, things are constantly changing.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>And, uh, the older generations didn't really grow up with technology, but we study going forward with technology, and that kind of leaves them, um, alienated. So how do you feel like we can all work together and continue to move forward and be innovative in situations like that?
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> Lisa Ryan>Yeah, it's a really good question because a lot of your more tenured employees, so those that are in the baby boomer status, um, some of them are still afraid of technology, which, number one, you need to get over, uh, with the pandemic. With four years of pandemic and the technology just becoming stupid easy. Um, it's almost intuitive that there's no reason to be afraid of it. But what the, um, older generations need to realize is that employees aren't going to change. For them to come into the workplace, their company, their business, they need to change.
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> Lisa Ryan>For these, uh, millennials and Gen Z that are coming into the workplace because they see the world differently, they have more access to technology. Again, they have things that we boomers didn't even think about when we were coming up. Um, so when you have boomers that, again, are known for their workaholic work ethic, we are pretty much defined by the work we do. And so boomers, if you're not familiar, it's 1946 to 1964. So the youngest of the boomers are turning 60 this year. And then Gen X, you have from 1965 to around 1980. This is a very small generation. 75 boomers to 40 million. 75 million boomers to 40 million gen xers.
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> Lisa Ryan>And Gen Xers were the ones that really started discovering technology. They were the digital natives. Um, but they're also a lot of times overlooked in the workplace because they're just such a small generation. But they were the ones that also came up with work life balance. I remember an article in Time magazine where the boomers were calling Gen Xers slackers because they wanted this work life balance thing, where they wanted to go home at five and not consider it a half a day.
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> Lisa Ryan>So we had, the millennials came in 1981 to about 1996. And this was the first generation where college was super important. It was like a necessary, because their boomer parents wanted them to have more, um, uh, opportunities than they did. So you have a whole generation coming into the workplace with more college loan debt than any other generation behind them. There's about 72 million, um, uh, millennials. So not as big as boomers, but they're the ones that are playing the significant role in the workplace right now.
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> Lisa Ryan>Because being from their thirties to early forties, they are really at the prime of their career. And they are all about the mission of the organization, about giving back, saving the planet. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves.
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> Lisa Ryan>And then we have Gen Z, who's coming in. So Gen Z is after 1996 to about 2012, and they are actually wired completely different from millennials, and that they are the largest of the generations. I still can't find the exact numbers, but everywhere that I read just says Gen Z is the largest of the generations, but they are the most diverse. You know, with them, diversity is an expectation because they've always had it. So they're looking at your website to see, you know, is there a diverse group of people working there? They have different family structures, they have different levels of, again, technology expectations, and coming off four years of a pandemic, their expectations, along with younger millennials, for things like being able to work 100% remote, um, or at least being able to work part of their time remote, they see no reason why they need to go into an office every day just for being there for FaceTime. So again, organizations looking at things of how can we look at business differently these days?
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> Lisa Ryan>How can we give employees more flexibility?
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> Lisa Ryan>Who can work from home? Who can work remote? Can we change hours? Can we share shifts? Um, whatever it is, so that it's just looking at ways of getting away from that traditional nine to five that basically the boomers and Gen Xers grew up with.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So what do you feel like leaders can do to be able to make a good workplace culture and accommodate everybody and make everybody happy and productive?
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> Lisa Ryan>Well, the first thing is to really start, find out where you're at, you know, and that can be through, uh, an employee engagement survey. A better tool that I promote, uh, that I talk about all the time in my programs, is the stay interview, because a lot of times people will do exit interviews. And I think that that's okay, but I also think because it determines patterns, patterns that are going on. But I also think it's a little late. You know, somebody's walking out the door, and you're like, hey, why are you leaving? On the other hand, if you do a stay interview that is sitting down with that employee and asking questions, what keeps you here? What do you like about your job? And when you get those questions? Now we have fodder to attract more people to your company because you've heard from your employees what they like about your company. Um, now, the next question is not tell me three things you hate about working here, because that would not be a fun conversation. But it may be. If you were me, what changes would you make? What resources do you need? How can I be a better manager? Um, what would cause you to leave? So if you ask your employee that question now, they may say, you know, I've been taking these classes at the local community college, and if I got a job, um, that would help me, you know, use those skills in this computer programming, I'd probably leave for that. It's like now, you know, so you're thinking, can I find something for that person to do and to help career path them so that I can keep them for the long term? Um, it's also touching. Employees in the act of doing things. Well, people will ask me, are you telling me I need to thank my employees for doing their job? It's like, well, yeah, actually I am, because they want to know that they're making a difference. They want to know that you are recognizing them. I had, uh, a gentleman come up to me after one of my programs, and it was funny. He said, you know, Lisa, when I do something wrong, I get recognized 100% of the time. But when I do something well, it rarely gets noticed.
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> Lisa Ryan>So we really need to flip that.
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> Lisa Ryan>As managers and leaders get to know your employees, what do they like? How can you personalize their attention? Give them access to you, let them know how they contribute to the greater mission. There's nothing big, or it's these small gestures that you're making on a consistent basis that have the biggest impact for your employees.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, it definitely sounds like, um, you have a great program going, and tell the, uh, listeners about any upcoming projects that your company has that we need to be aware of.
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> Lisa Ryan>Um, well, I just finished a research report, and I'm starting on my second one. Um, the first one is a research, ah, paper on, um, the fact that company culture is everyone's responsibility. And it looks into the research as far as how, um, there's three different categories that I look in that report. Number one, the employees. What is it that they want? Well, they want three main things. They want to feel safe at work. And safety is not only physical safety, but being able to share their ideas and express their opinions. They want to be acknowledged, and they want to have access to training, access to personal and professional development. And so it's taking it also among, upon themselves to do that, um, but also to realize that that's what, you know, and showing up at work, you know, doing the things that they need to do when it comes to leadership, you know, the employees want to know that leaders have their back, that they support them, that they are investing in them, and that they are listening to them, that there's good, solid, transparent communication. And then finally, we look at the C suite, and it's kind of funny, because the first time I mentioned C suite to an audience, a member said, what is the C suite? I just kind of took it for granted. But a, uh, c suite is the CEO, CFO, COO, basically anyone in that executive suite, that their title begins with a c. So I just kind of lump them into one category with, uh, with the owners of the businesses as well. But they are really responsible for the vision, the values, and the strategies.
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> Lisa Ryan>So this report dives deep into that. And I've just commissioned a new report that's going to look at these gears of Gratigi that we talked about. That again, starting with attitude, going to appreciation, um, access, applause, acts of service, and then accountability.
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> Lisa Ryan>And if you want, if anybody listening wants early access to that, um, I do have it pinned on my LinkedIn profile. So if you do a search, if you find me on LinkedIn, just do Lisa Ryan at gradigy. Um, you'll see that, and that will give you a nice introduction to that research that's going to be coming out within the next couple months.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So I got to ask you, how did you come up with the name Gratigi? That's pretty cool name.
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> Lisa Ryan>You know, the funny thing is, I have a friend of mine, Dick clough. Um, he's an old advertising guy. He's been around forever and a day. Actually looks like Albert Einstein, you know? And, uh, we've been friends for a long time. And so my company, when I first started, it was called appreciation strategies. So I was chief appreciation strategist at appreciation strategies, which was quite a mouthful. So I'm over Dick's one day, and we're walking along Lake Erie, just walking and talking and, uh, trying to figure out a new name for my company. So we're mushing together all of these names, you know, that had to do with thankfulness, appreciation, gratitude, all of that. And we did it for about 3 hours. And finally, I looked at my watch. I'm like, dude, it is 530 on a Friday night. I got a date with my husband. I got to go. So I left my husband. Scott and I are out to dinner, and Dick called me, and I was like, did I just not leave you an hour ago? What? And he said, it's gradigy.
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> Lisa Ryan>And I'm like, oh, my God, it's gradigy.
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> Lisa Ryan>And I looked at Scott, and I said, it's Gratigi. And Scott's like, what are you talking about?
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> Lisa Ryan>Just like that, uh, concept of the mastermind. When two people start to brainstorm and collaborate together, the third power, this mastermind, shows up. And so, while I was enjoying dinner with my husband, Dick was continuing to process.
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> Lisa Ryan>And it was kind of funny because every year for about ten years, at Christmas, uh, around Christmas time, Dick would say, hey, I just want to let you know, you know, I'm giving you the rights, totally giving you the rights to use gradigy. Like, dude, it's been a registered trademark for ten years, so I'm still very, very grateful to him. Uh, because you're right.
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> Lisa Ryan>It is a, uh, you know, I don't have to do a whole lot of extra explaining. People say gratigi, and I'm like, gratitude strategy. Oh. And they get it.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>That's pretty sweet. So, other than LinkedIn, uh, do you have a website or any other contact info where listeners can keep up with everything that you're up to?
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> Lisa Ryan>Sure. My website is lisarian speaks. Lisaryan speaks.
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> Lisa Ryan>S p dash e dash s.com. um, I'm okay. Active on the other platforms. On, uh, Facebook. I do have a very, uh, big LinkedIn. I'm sorry. YouTube channel, and that is under my gratigi. So, if you do m y g r a t e g y. Um, I have hundreds of videos up there.
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> Lisa Ryan>There's tips, videos. There's full programs.
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> Lisa Ryan>So people really want to get a taste for what I do and see some fun videos in the process.
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> Lisa Ryan>Go to mygradigy on YouTube.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>We'll close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on or just any final thoughts you have for the listeners.
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> Lisa Ryan>I think that the most important thing, um, to get into this habit of gratitude is to try it for 30 days. I have a 30 day gratitude challenge where every day for the next 30 days, write down three to five things that you're grateful for. And at the end of 30 days, at that point, you can decide, do I feel any different? Have people noticed that I'm different, that I'm happier, that I'm complaining less often and then you just continue the process. But the 30 days kind of get you into that habit.
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> Lisa Ryan>And the best way to do it also is like I did, to do it with friends, you know, to hold each other accountable. That every day we're going to go on a Facebook messenger.
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> Lisa Ryan>Messenger. We're going to send each other a text, uh, you know, if with somebody in our household, we're just going to share something good with each other every day. And by doing that practice, I promise you it will make a difference in every area of your life, just like it did for mine.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, ladies and gentlemen, Lisa Ryan speaks.com dot. Be sure to check her out on LinkedIn YouTube. Keep up with everything that she's up to. If you are somebody who invites speakers out, be sure to have her out. If you have any guests or suggestion topics, see Jackson 102. Net is the place to send them. Please be sure to follow rate review share the show. As always, thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. And Lisa, thank you for joining us today.
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> Lisa Ryan>It was a ball. Thanks so much for having me.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurvefall.com.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>until next time, stay focused on living the dream. Dream.
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