10 Ways to Show Gratitude to Your Career Supporters

While New Year’s Resolutions are around the corner, it’s time to tie a bow on all you’ve accomplished in your career this year. And, it’s likely – okay, it’s definitive – that there are people in your personal and professional spheres who have contributed to your success. Someone made an important introduction, or referred you for a job, or provided career advice, or reviewed your resume, or gave you feedback (feedback is a gift), or believed in you, or told you to go back to the drawing board and come back to show progress, or invested in your idea, or cheered you on, or…There are so many ways to help others along their career path, and so many ways others help propel us towards our goals.

Although expressing gratitude is always in-style, and should be an ongoing practice, this is one time of year when we can take a step back and think about our community of supporters and express gratitude to those who’ve helped us in our careers.

Some of my favorite ways to show gratitude are to:

1. Send a small gift
2. Mail a personalized thank you note or make a thank you phone call
3. Treat someone to lunch or coffee from afar
4. Donate to an organization that’s meaningful to them
5. Pay it forward by helping someone else, then following up with the person who helped us, sharing how you were able to give what they gave to someone else
6. Make an introduction to someone new
7. Send a helpful article, resource, or video
8. Feature them in an article, project, or event
9. Show them social media love
10. Send them a birthday greeting

The last chapter of KNOCK is about giving, gratitude, and generosity. Give as you grow. Help as you receive help. You can give as you develop your career through mentoring, making introductions, sharing an idea, reposting others’ work on social media, giving a compliment, trying someone’s product, remembering their birthday and sending wishes their way, finding a project for someone to try a new skill or stretch their abilities, training someone on a skill you have, sharing an inspiring article or helpful resource, referring someone to a job, volunteering your time or skill to help them develop a concept, reviewing their resume, or just taking the time to listen.

How do you give as your grow and develop your own career? What are some of your favorite ways to express gratitude for your network of career supporters?

Ready to learn how successful professionals are practicing giving, generosity, and gratitude as they develop their careers? My upcoming book, KNOCK: How to Open Doors and Build Career Relationships that Matter has an entire chapter dedicated to giving. Sign up for the VIP list to be one of the first readers!