Gratitude

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  By doing this, Digby helped me build credibility with my new colleagues. He took action as an ally, using his position of privilege to sponsor me. His shout-outs made a difference, and definitely made me feel great.” What we learn from this is twofold. First, Digby Horner is probably the coolest name ever. And second, more on point, when allies take on the role of sponsor, they vocally support the work of colleagues from underrepresented groups in all contexts, specifically in situations that will help boost their reputation. This can’t be pandering but has to be honest promotion of people’s expertise. The goal for leaders is to support and promote those from oft-marginalized groups. For example, for several years Adrian has been asked to deliver keynotes on corporate culture at the Women’s Foodservice Forum, an industry group with the goal of advancing female leaders in foodservice. Three thousand attendees arrive each year to hear messages from luminaries such as Brené Brown and Maya Angelou. Adrian has been inspired by those attending and found it significant that about 10 percent of the attendees are senior male leaders—there to learn and champion the women in their organizations to greater success. These men are not benevolent benefactors, but wise leaders who intentionally invest in and rely on the skills of their protégés to achieve greater things for their organizations. Method 3: Stand Up Good allies don’t hide in the shadows, says Isaac Sabat, assistant professor of organizational psychology at Texas A&M University. Instead, they show their support through actions, even by seemingly small things like attending events, adding comments on Slack, or affixing stickers to their cubicles. He said, “Research shows that confronting bad behavior in the moment—responding to someone’s insensitive remark or calling attention to the lack of representation in the room—can be more effective when it comes from an ally.” If a person of color, for instance, calls out a microaggression, other teammates might see them as complaining or self-serving, he added, but when allies initiate a similar confrontation, others typically view it as objective. “If you can signal your allyship identity, then it shows people that you are supportive and that you are there for them if something goes down.”

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  That overview of the market and our place in it was very helpful when we had to explain the findings to the executive team. Nice job.” Carlos Aguilera, director of Avis Budget Group’s premium brand strategy, is one of the best managers we’ve seen at making gratitude specific to the company’s values. When we met him, he was general manager of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport location, and his team’s pre-shift meetings would always kick off with specific gratitude. He’d ask: “Okay, who saw someone doing something great yesterday?” One day we were with Aguilera when a shift supervisor suggested Delana should be singled out. She had noticed one of her customers wearing a knee brace and, without being asked, called an attendant in the back and asked for the customer’s rental car to be brought up front so the person wouldn’t have to walk through the lot. The story took only thirty seconds to tell, and we noted the energy in the pre-shift huddle starting to build. Best of all, Delana knew that her managers were paying attention and grateful of her attention to detail. Aguilera presented her with an on-the-spot award. “And we make sure each accomplishment is posted on the bulletin board,” Aguilera told us later. It was the little things like this that kept his people energized. He was trusted, communicated well, and spent an inordinate amount of time with his high- potential people. When we studied Aguilera, he had the highest employee engagement scores in the entire twenty-six-thousand-person company. And what he learned to do can be replicated. Method 2: Match Gratitude to Magnitude We certainly encourage managers to recognize small accomplishments on a regular basis. But when a team member does something big, leaders need to make sure gratitude is commensurate with the accomplishment. When a reward for an achievement is not aligned with the impact, it might do more harm than good. “In the past, one department had implemented a program where they gave a ten-dollar gift certificate to recognize extra effort and say thank you,” said Shari Rife, manager of creative process and facilitation for Rich Products Corporation, a $4 billion food company in Buffalo, New York. It didn’t matter what action was being recognized; the recognition remained the same. “It was very informal, without much criteria surrounding it,” she told us. “And it caused real frustration with associates because someone who cleaned out the supply cabinet was recognized in the same way as someone who implemented a huge project. Because they both got the same gift card, it actually became de-motivating.” When leaders align rewards with the level of achievement, they help those who are anxious make more positive assumptions about their work.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  If you observe a leader practice gratitude to others in front of you, it teaches you to do it. It inspires employees with the emotion to go forward and follow that example.” How Gratitude Helps Us Handle PressureAnother bit of good news for managers: Gratitude helps people develop a greater capacity to handle stress. Studies by a team of scientists led by Rollin McCraty, psycho-physiologist and professor at Florida Atlantic University, show that those who give or receive gratitude have a marked reduction in their level of cortisol, the stress hormone. They also are more resilient to emotional setbacks and negative experiences. McCraty’s work suggests humans can rewire their brains to deal with tough circumstances with more awareness and broader perception, merely by acknowledging and appreciating the little steps forward in their lives. This is especially important because anxiety can make talented people feel like frauds, their external validation not matching up with what they feel internally. That’s called the imposter syndrome—waiting for the world to find out we aren’t all we are cracked up to be. In the ranks of celebrities, this is more common than we might imagine. Rock star Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography Born to Run outlines his lifelong battle with self-doubt and feeling like a “complete fake.” Comedian Steve Martin, in his autobiography Born Standing Up , details his two-decades-long struggle with bouts of anxiety and full-blown panic attacks. Lady Gaga, who appears to be the epitome of confidence with her assortment of outrageous outfits and amazing live performances, has openly discussed her anxiety. On an HBO special, she said, “I still sometimes feel like a loser kid in high school, and I just have to pick myself up and tell myself that I’m a superstar every morning so that I can get through this day and be for my fans what they need for me to be.” Eventually, without support and coping mechanisms, even talented people can burn out from stress and anxiety. UCLA neuroscientist Dr. Alex Korb explains that a person who worries over and over about unfavorable outcomes will wire his brain to focus on nothing but the negative. He argues that our minds cannot focus on positive and negative information simultaneously. By consciously practicing gratitude in a team, he says, we could help train our brains to selectively attend to positive emotions and thoughts. This can reduce anxiety and feelings of apprehension. People tend to focus more on the challenges of life, because challenges demand action. And at work, isn’t it our job to overcome challenges? We tend to pay scant attention to the good things because we feel that we don’t have to do much to make them stick around. And yet gratitude helps people focus on the positives, fight negative thoughts with optimism, accept harsh realities, and let others know they are cared for and appreciated. One of the most effective ways leaders can combat anxiety is to foster an attitude of gratitude throughout their organizations—not just top-down, but peer-to-peer.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  Evelyn Walter, executive director and HR leader for Cummins engine and power generation business in North American distribution, sought to listen following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. A Fortune 500 company with sixty thousand employees around the world, Cummins has six core values, one of which is diversity and inclusion. Thus, when the marches began, Walter told us she felt supported by her organization to send a handwritten card to every Black person on her staff. “I got approval to use home addresses, and I wrote lengthy notes about how I wanted to support them,” she said. “I asked what I could do for them and their families. I was in the car Friday with my husband and daughters and got an email from a woman named Mercedes. She is incredibly positive; she makes lemonade out of lemons every day. The main message was she appreciated the specific care for her and her family. She said, ‘I’ve seen your leadership, I know this is sincere.’ That was kind, and yet it was concerning because she obviously knows other people who may not be genuine.” Added Walter, the act of writing out dozens of notes on a Saturday morning spurred her to create further connections. “I wanted to find more people to check in with. What about my Latinx employees? What about my team members who are gay? That’s what it created in me.” HubSpot’s Burke added to this idea. She has served as the LGBTQ+ executive sponsor at her firm, but didn’t feel she knew much about the experience of folks who identify as transgender and how she could best support them. She spent time researching the issue, and hours listening to colleagues she admired who identify as transgender. In doing so she learned more about preferred pronoun usage, the transition process, and how she could be a more supportive colleague, friend, and leader. Admitting you don’t know all the answers and being vulnerable enough to address your blind spots proactively is a vital part of the role of anyone who wishes to be an ally. Yes, most of us will make a mistake or two in this process—we are all human—but through listening and education we will start to understand how to better help all those whose lives we touch. Method 2: Sponsor Karen Catlin, author of Better Allies and former vice president of engineering at Adobe, told of working early in her career for a software company that was acquired by a larger firm. “In the first few months following the acquisition, I noticed something. My new manager, Digby Horner—who had been at the larger company for many years—said things in meetings along the lines of: ‘What I learned from Karen is . . .’

• From Martin Luther (2016)

  Many audiences have helped me shape my ideas, and I’m grateful to them, as have many individuals, including Mette Ahlefeldt-Laurvig, Sarah Apetrei, Charlotte Appel, Wolfgang Behringer, Paul Betts, Sue Bottigheimer, Patrick Cane, Charles Colville, Natalie Zemon Davis, Martin Donnelly, Michael Drolet, Liz Fidlon, Etienne François, Laura Gowing, Rebekka Habermas, Adalbert Hepp, Michael Hunter, Susan Karant-Nunn, Thomas Kaufmann, Simone Laqua, Volker Leppin, Peter Macardle, Jan Machielsen, Hans Medick, Erik Midelfort, Hannah Murphy, Johannes Paulmann, Glyn Redworth, Tom Robisheaux, Ailsa Roper, Cath Roper, Miri Rubin, Alex Shepard, Philip Soergel, Hubert Stadler, Andreas Stahl, Willibald Steinmetz, Naomi Tadmor, Barbara Taylor, Bernd Weisbrod, Chris Wickham, Merry Wiesner, Tim Wilson, Karin Woerdemann, Sylvie Zannier, and Charles Zika, whose insights have all found their way into this book. Many friends read entire drafts, some even when the book was at a very early stage, generously discussed the ideas, and made countless suggestions. I would like to thank in particular my friends Alison Light, whose conversations with me about Luther over many years have shaped the book; Daniel Pick, who helped me think psychoanalytically about Luther’s character; Kat Hill, who has thought through this book with me from the start; Alex Walsham, who kept me going when I lost confidence in the project; Barbara Taylor, who helped sort out the introduction, and Gadi Algazi, from whom I have learned so much. All of all them read and commented extensively on the book, as did Simon Ponsonby, who made me rethink many of my interpretations; Rosi Bartlett, who inspired me to think differently about where things took place; my brother Mike Roper, who saw what the book needed to do and kept me going; my dad, Stan Roper, to whom it is dedicated; and Ulinka Rublack, whose work has so influenced my own for so many years. I have incorporated most of their suggestions but of course they are not to blame for my mistakes. Jörg Hensgen has been an amazing editor, tirelessly spotting every weak point in the book, “smoothing out the bumps,” as he puts it, and arguing with my interpretations: I could not have been more fortunate in having an editor trained in Lutheran theology. David Milner has been an eagle-eyed copy editor, saving me from many howlers, and Anthony Hippisley an excellent proofreader; I am grateful to my wonderful American editor, Molly Turpin, and her team at Random House, and to the excellent copy editor Thomas Pitoniak and production editor Steve Messina. Clare Alexander is far more than an agent: She supported me, protected me, and made sure the book got finished. I am grateful also to Sally Riley, who deals with foreign rights but so much more.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  This can reduce anxiety and feelings of apprehension. People tend to focus more on the challenges of life, because challenges demand action. And at work, isn’t it our job to overcome challenges? We tend to pay scant attention to the good things because we feel that we don’t have to do much to make them stick around. And yet gratitude helps people focus on the positives, fight negative thoughts with optimism, accept harsh realities, and let others know they are cared for and appreciated. One of the most effective ways leaders can combat anxiety is to foster an attitude of gratitude throughout their organizations—not just top-down, but peer- to-peer. We were visiting a hospital one Friday and were privileged to witness a special meeting. Each week one staff member received what they called the Grace Under Fire trophy, a fire hose mounted on a block of wood. The award was brought out to much applause, and was given from peer-to-peer as a way to recognize something admirable that a staff member had done during the week. In the case we watched, a nurse had nominated a fellow staff member who had taken one of her weekend shifts. The scheduled eight hours had turned into twelve as the ER filled up, but the substitute kept her cool. In presenting the award, the nominating nurse not only expressed her deep appreciation, but spoke about core values like dependability and teamwork. The team’s manager later told us that this Friday ritual has not only added a touch of fun but has elevated everyone’s behavior and strengthened relationships. The award presentation was fast (followed by well-deserved snacks), and yet it reinforced in a powerful way what the staff members valued the most: keeping cool under pressure while helping each other. Turn Doubts into Assurance As we have visited worksites like this and talked with leaders throughout the world, we have found some other practical methods whereby gratitude can turn doubts into assurance. Method 1: Make Gratitude Clear, Specific, and Sincere Generic comments around the workplace such as “great work” have never cut it, especially when it comes to reassuring anxious team members. Employees hear such nonspecific praise and tend to dismiss it, especially those who may be feeling self-doubt. Instead, grateful leaders home in on a particular aspect of an achievement or manner in which a person is going about their work. For instance, “Nice job on that report” is good, and certainly better than saying nothing. But better yet would be to say something to the effect of “I love how your report provides a short narrative to go along with the numbers.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  Workers who have a strong degree of confidence that their manager has faith in their abilities are better able to receive criticism and realize that the coaching is specific to a particular task or aspect of their work rather than a condemnation of their overall capabilities. Another plus: Whether leaders regularly thank team members for work well done, or if they receive thanks themselves, they are better able to bounce back from adversity with greater resilience, according to Dr. Sara Algoe, associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research has found a substantial link between gratitude and employee efficiency and productivity. “Gratitude is important for forming and maintaining the most important relationships of our lives, those with the people we interact with every day,” she says. Her work shows employees who express and receive gratitude at work are also more likely to volunteer for tasks, step up to accomplish hard things, and work better as a part of a team. Furthermore, her research shows that leaders who regularly offer gratitude are scored higher by their team members on measured attributes of compassion, consideration, empathy, and (gasp) even love. We aren’t talking here about general praise that has little meaning, e.g., “Good work, team.” We like to remind leaders that if you can say it to a dog, it’s not gratitude. No, what we are talking about is gratitude offered to another person with sincerity and specificity for what they’ve contributed. When anyone accepts such thanks, neurotransmitters in the brain release dopamine and serotonin, which are responsible for a good mood. By consciously practicing gratitude, we can strengthen these neural pathways and create a physiological superhighway to harmony within our team members. Chris Schembra, author of Gratitude and Pasta, has hosted hundreds of gratitude intervention dinners in New York City, where companies can better engage with their clients or employees. At each of the 7:47 Club dinners (the time the meal starts), Chris asks his guests the same question: “If you could give credit and thanks to one person in your life, who you don’t give enough credit or thanks to, who would that be?” Schembra told us, “People often walk into our dinners feeling lonely, unfulfilled, disconnected, insecure. They listen to others share the stories from their past about their mothers, fathers, dogs, third-grade teachers, ex-girlfriends. They realize they’re not as alone as they thought. Everybody can relate to a mother, whether she deserted them or nurtured them; a grandpa who took them to soccer practice. By sharing our histories we decrease anxiety.” The 7:47 Club’s research director Madeline Haslam points to the vital role of leaders in setting an example with gratitude. In 1961, Albert Bandura at Stanford University conducted what has become known as the Bobo doll experiment.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  Finally, we are so thankful to our families for their support: to Jennifer, who has kept this project moving with her enthusiasm and profound insights. And to Heidi and to Cassi and Braeden; Carter, Luisa, Lucas Chester, and Clara Iris; Brinden; and Garrett and Maile. NotesSources quoted in Anxiety at Work are from firsthand interviews with the authors unless noted below. Chapter 1: The Duck Syndrome In a 2018 survey, 34 percent of workers : The citation is from an American Psychological Association survey of 3,458 adults, quoted in the Wall Street Journal , “The Most Anxious Generation Goes to Work,” by Sue Shellenbarger, May 9, 2019. The statistic indicating 18 percent of adults have an anxiety disorder is from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America website “Facts & Statistics” backed up by the American Psychiatric Association statistics on its Center for Workplace Mental Health website and the article “Anxiety Disorders: Why They Matter and What Employers Can Do.” Harvard Medical School research claimed : The research and quote are from the Harvard Health Publishing article “Mental Health Problems in the Workplace,” February 2010. workplace anxiety is estimated to cost some $40 billion : The $40 billion statistic is found in the Health.com article “How to Relieve the Acute Discomfort of Anxiety Disorders,” posted on February 29, 2016; the $300 billion statistic is in the Healthline article “Stress Costs U.S. $300 Billion Every Year,” by Gillian Mohney, January 15, 2018; and the 600 billion euros statistic in Europe is from the Euroactiv.com article “Mental Health Issues Cost EU Countries More Than €600 Billion,” by Beatriz Rios, November 29, 2018. According to a 2019 study published in the Harvard Business Review : The data on young people leaving jobs for mental health reasons comes from CNBC, “Half of Millennials and 75% of Gen-Zers Have Left Jobs for Mental Health Reasons,” by Cory Stieg, October 8, 2019. says Michael Fenlon, chief people officer for PricewaterhouseCoopers : Michael Fenlon is summarized from the Wall Street Journal article “The Most Anxious Generation Goes to Work,” by Sue Shellenbarger, May 9, 2019. 90 percent judged it would be a bad idea to confide their situation : The statistic is from the theladders.com article “The Surprising Group Has the Most Workplace Anxiety,” by C. W.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  Others don’t want to coddle their workers, especially during times of crisis when there are so many other demands on their time. A few leaders have shared the view that praising their people all the time for just doing their job will come across as condescending or fake. “Who am I,” they ask, “a praise-giving robot?” Well, first, it’s not nonstop praise that’s called for, it is gratitude expressed in the right way and at the right time. Managers need employees who are motivated to achieve. And one of the simplest and most effective ways to motivate people to achieve is by regularly expressing gratitude. Our research shows unequivocally that offering such positive reinforcement produces impressive boosts in team performance. Here’s some of that evidence: Research conducted for us by Willis Towers Watson found that when employee engagement is in the bottom quartile of national rankings, customer satisfaction is 20 percentage points lower than when employee engagement is in the top quartile. And of the people who report the highest level of engagement at work, a whopping 94 percent agree that their managers are effective at recognizing them when they go above and beyond. That shows an extremely strong link between gratitude and employee engagement, and engagement and customer satisfaction. All of this is made more startling when we add morale into the mix. Some 56 percent of employees who say they have low morale at work give their managers a failing grade on gratitude, while only 2 percent of people who have low morale say they have a boss who is great at appreciating their work. How Gratitude Affects AnxietyMore than two thousand years ago, Cicero called gratitude “not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” Yet gratitude receives little attention as an area of research in the business world. That is unfortunate. Expressions of gratitude, when done regularly, can produce profound effects. In a world filled with uncertainty, when managers frequently offer up their thanks for great work—and are specific in how an achievement has helped the team—they can significantly reduce anxiety levels. Such acts are like regular deposits in the Bank of Engagement. They build up reserves for when an employee’s work does have to be corrected. Workers who have a strong degree of confidence that their manager has faith in their abilities are better able to receive criticism and realize that the coaching is specific to a particular task or aspect of their work rather than a condemnation of their overall capabilities. Another plus: Whether leaders regularly thank team members for work well done, or if they receive thanks themselves, they are better able to bounce back from adversity with greater resilience, according to Dr.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  Parker is a talented software developer and explained that she suffers from chronic anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Every now and then she needs to take some time to focus on her well-being. After several nights of insomnia, Parker had sent an email to her team saying she’d be out of the office for a few days to focus on her mental health. The next day, she opened her inbox to find a flood of supportive missives. One that caught her eye was from company CEO Ben Congleton. “I can’t believe this is not a standard practice at all organizations,” read part of his email. “You are an example to us all . . . and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work.” Said Parker, “I was absolutely touched. It brought tears to my eyes. It was surprising to be applauded for my vulnerability.” Strong, caring leaders like Congleton can do a lot to help, making a huge difference for not only those who suffer but everyone on their teams. More leaders are beginning to understand the issues surrounding mental health and are truly caring about their employees’ well-being. They are creating work environments where goals such as “happy” and “healthy” are taken just as seriously as sales quotas or customer satisfaction. Derek Lundsten, president and CEO of LifeGuides, told us, “It’s time to build a bridge between the old model where employees left their problems at the door and a new world where we set time and space aside for those conversations to take place.” We aren’t there yet. It will take a new way of thinking; maybe even a new way of punctuating. Heather Parrie, a Missouri accountant, is the type of person whose accomplishments used to fill up her Facebook page. A few years ago, she was hit with something unexpected. Burdened with the weight of expectations and relentlessly comparing herself to successful friends, she began to crumble. In the grips of self-doubt, anxiety, and depression, she started sleeping up to twenty hours a day. She canceled plans with friends, skipped work, and preferred to stay wrapped in a safe cocoon of blankets. She ended up being let go from her job, which just made things worse. Even in her darkest moments, when she felt she’d never get out of bed, Parrie managed to conceal her inner battle from friends and family. After battling alone for many months, she began finding help with therapy, medication, and opening up to those she loves. She described her reasons for getting a tattoo of a semicolon. In literary terms, a semicolon is used when an author could’ve chosen to end their sentence but chose not to.

• From Martin Luther (2016)

  [image file=image_rsrc6M9.jpg] Raphael’s official portrait of Pope Leo X, whose indifference to the ample troubles of the church led to the irrevocable sundering of Christendom in western Europe. The portrait is dated 1518–19 and hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. [image file=image_rsrc6MA.jpg] A portrait of Frederich III (1463–1525). [image file=image_rsrc6MB.jpg] When Luther snuck back to Wittenberg incognito in December 1521, Lucas Cranach the Elder seized the opportunity to memorialize him in his bearded, untonsured guise as “Junker George.” Luther grew two beards in his life, the second sprouting in similar conditions to the first during his sequestration atop the Coburg during the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. [image file=image_rsrc6MC.jpg] Cranach’s 1537 portrait of Philip Melanchthon. [image file=image_rsrc6MD.jpg] Cranach’s 1526 portrait of Katharina Luther. [image file=image_rsrc6ME.jpg] The Wartburg Castle where Luther lived as “Junker George” after the Diet of Worms. It is here that in the spring of 1521 he translated the New Testament into German. [image file=image_rsrc6MF.jpg] Luther’s quarters at the Wartburg. The whale vertebra is the only item original to Luther’s occupancy. [image file=image_rsrc6MG.jpg] Andreas Karlstadt von Bodenstein’s cartoon (created with Cranach) is an example of the earliest print propaganda, and amply illustrates his theological differences with Johannes Eck. The cartoon was published as a way to advertise their debate in Leipzig, and to influence the subsequent thinking about it. [image file=image_rsrc6MH.jpg] Cranach’s 1509 portrait of the twenty-five-year-old Georg Spalatin. [image file=image_rsrc6MJ.jpg] Cranach’s 1537 portrait of the fifty-three-year-old Spalatin. [image file=image_rsrc6MK.jpg] A self-portrait of Lucas Cranach the Elder from 1531. [image file=image_rsrc6MM.jpg] Hans Holbein’s famous portrait of Erasmus, the “prince of the humanists.” In the end, Luther decried him as “an eel” for his slippery unwillingness to commit to any single position. On the Bondage of the Will, Luther’s response to Erasmus’s writing on free will, is widely regarded as his best theological work. [image file=image_rsrc6MN.jpg] The plaster cast death mask and hands of Luther. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSCreating a book such as the one you are this moment reading* requires significantly more than mere researching and writing, both of which I am generally able to do without any help, thank you very much. It is a here-and-now documented fact that this book would not exist without the sparkling editorial efforts of my team at Viking, led by their own capo di tutt’i capi, Brian Tart, whom I must (and here do) thank for his inestimable encouragement and sensitive editorial and publishing guidance, not to mention (though I do) his oversight of the eminently capable Amy Sun and others, including (but not limited to) Ryan Boyle, Colin Webber, Amy Hill, and Rebecca Marsh. Though I would never say so publicly, it is a fixed certainty that had Brian and his team been at Viking in the early seventies, Gravity’s Rainbow might well be (readable and) still selling briskly. Quelle domage.

• From Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done

  If leaders want to reinforce the right behaviors, they should keep gratitude close to the action—soon after they see good things happening. Gratitude also must be frequent. Those who feel heightened anxiety generally require a steady flow of reassurance that their work is adding value, and when times are tough that need increases. Our research finds that in the best teams, highly engaged employees feel praised for their specific accomplishments on a regular basis—at least once a week. “In the most innovative companies, there is a significantly higher volume of thank-yous than in companies of low innovation,” says Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard. With our research, we’ve been thrilled to find higher levels of gratitude not only in the innovative workplaces we studied, but in cultures of great customer service, operational excellence, compassion, and ownership. In the best cultures, teammates have each other’s backs, and they spend much more time thanking each other peer-to-peer. These seemingly warm and fuzzy skills create tangible esprit de corps and a single-mindedness about living the right behaviors. It is through timely reinforcement that people grow to their full stature. To know they are on the right path, workers need frequent, specific gratitude. SUMMARY Build Confidence with Gratitude One of the simplest and most effective ways to motivate employees to achieve is by regularly expressing gratitude. Research shows offering positive reinforcement produces impressive boosts in team performance and significantly reduces anxiety levels in team members. Leaders don’t express gratitude to their people about work well done anywhere nearly as frequently or effectively as they should. High-performing employees are often gratitude sponges and perceive a lack of attention from a manager as a sign that things are not good; silence can cause worry to creep up on even the best of workers. Regular expressions of gratitude are like deposits in a Bank of Engagement. They build up reserves for when an employee’s work has to be corrected. Research shows gratitude also helps people develop a greater capacity to handle stress. Other practical methods to turn doubts into assurance include: 1) make gratitude clear, specific, and sincere, 2) match gratitude to magnitude, 3) preserve gratitude’s significance, 4) provide gratitude to high-flyers, too, and 5) keep gratitude close to the action. Conclusion The Semicolon: Before and After There are moments which mark your life . . . when you realize nothing will ever be the same and time is divided into two parts: before this, and after this. —Denzel Washington (as John Hobbes) While a first step in building a healthy work culture comes in the form of awareness—of acknowledging the frantic duck-paddling going on under the surface in your team—the second part, mitigation, comes when we begin to minimize anxiety, offer support for people to work through their feelings, and build resilience for challenges to come. Sometimes it’s as simple as being accepting. Take the example of Madalyn Parker, who, when we became aware of her story, worked for Olark, a Michigan-based software company.

• From Martin Luther (2016)

  A new circle of friends beyond as well as inside the Augustinian order solidified around him. Georg Spalatin—secretary, librarian, and later confessor to Friedrich the Wise—was one of the most important, as he made the Reformation possible by securing the Saxon ruler’s protection. In the years up to 1525 he became Luther’s most frequent correspondent, and the interlocutor to whom he revealed his daily preoccupations and deepest anxieties. Their friendship began by the circuitous route common among humanist circles: Spalatin knew Johannes Lang, and had him secure an introduction to Luther. As the Elector’s librarian, Spalatin was responsible for the university library and also advised on university policy, so the two men had to work together.26 Spalatin had unlimited access to the Elector and all correspondence ran through him: He had Latin, whereas the Elector was truly comfortable only in German.27 This was an era in which individuals were much more important than the formal offices they held and in which politics was intensely personal, so those who had access to a ruler wielded enormous power themselves. Not only did Spalatin give Luther an opening to Friedrich and his court; he also introduced him to a circle of Nuremberg humanists, which provided essential support in the early years of the Reformation. Although Staupitz had long had a group of admirers in Nuremberg, it was Spalatin who introduced Luther to Christoph Scheurl, the powerful civic secretary of the city and a brilliant legal mind, who had also spent time at Wittenberg’s law faculty. This connection to the wealthy south of Germany took Luther for the first time out of the narrow horizons of a world bounded by Erfurt, Mansfeld, and Wittenberg. He later acknowledged how much he owed his cultured Nuremberg friends, who became some of his most important supporters.

• From Lit: A Memoir (2009)

  Reaching for the tray is a big-knuckled farm girl’s hand shaped surprisingly like my own in the plastic glove. It’s one of those head-trippy instants when my innate suspicion inverts. For a second our matching hands simultaneously hold opposing sides of the steaming item. How manufactured we both are—it briefly strikes me—things shaped and formed, as the tray is, or the long-handled spoon with its flat rivet. I guide the spoon to dive into the stuffing, thinking, I didn’t grow this hand myself. It was drawn forth without my willing it into flesh. I’d like to say I didn’t have a revelation on Christmas Eve in a homeless shelter. If it seems predictable and unlikely, try it before you’re snide about it. I’d ditto like to say I fell Buddha-like to the floor and began to serve mankind selflessly ever after. But the blush of compassion lasts just a millisecond, diluting soon as I start struggling to name it. Meanwhile, my thumb on the ice cream scoop mechanically pushes out a load of mashed potatoes; I ladle up cranberry . The family in their Buffalo Bills shirts don’t seem like such chowderheads for an instant, and how alive I suddenly am. Even the ache in my feet is a measure of that. Here comes the next guy in the line, who’s made a yellow turban from police crime-scene tape. Like your hat, I say. I did it my own self. I can see that. You can make yourself one. There’s a whole bunch of this ribbon up on Crouse. He gestures with the sweeping open palm of an emperor. There’s an unbidden clap of gratitude in my rib cage again. This must be what the people in meetings have been gushing about. (I once thought saying you were grateful was a nice lie, like saying Glad to see you .) He’s passed me by and is now stuffing dinner rolls down the front of his grease-streaked parka. After cleanup, I stand at the pay phone regaling Patti with my trite everyone-is-everyone-else revelation. She says, Oh, that, as if she expected nothing else. But my memory for joy is still uncultivated. Right before New Year’s, my head’s badgering voice announces what a loser I am without a New Year’s date. But Dev comes home early from Warren’s, and the next day we invite over anybody with nowhere to go—foreign students, a few neighbors, a sober ex-con—for red beans and rice with greens and corn bread. Not long after, James Laughlin sends me an acceptance letter for the book of poems, along with a check for a whopping seven hundred and fifty bucks—about a third of my credit card debt and maybe the most I’ve earned aggregate on poetry in the previous fifteen years. And that’s how hard that was.

• From Martin Luther (2016)

  152 MARTIN LUTHER As he reminisced later in life, Luther cast his former confessor in a purely positive light. ‘I got everything from Staupitz’, he would say; ‘Staupitz gave me the occasionem’— an ambivalent word which can mean chance, opportunity, or reason.” He seems to have both recog- nised that Staupitz’s patronage had given him a public platform, and acknowledged his intellectual and emotional debt to him. By that time Luther himself had become a father, and his own father had died. Perhaps the greatest — albeit indirect — tribute Luther paid to Staupitz was that although he rejected all sacraments except baptism and Communion as lacking biblical foundation, he remained hesitant about what place to accord confession and penance in Christian life, which was, after all, the issue over which the Reformation had begun. More- over, Luther continued to make use of private confession, retaining his colleague Johannes Bugenhagen as his confessor. Regarding it as a powerful spiritual solace, Luther received public absolution from the pastor at Eisleben shortly before he died.* * In the months following the Leipzig Debate, the tone of polemic became increasingly strident. It was not just the litany of hatred and bile which Luther now poured out against Eck, accusing him of vain- glory and envy at every opportunity. The Catholic party began to become more organised. Alongside Eck there were attacks on Luther by the Italian Dominicans Sylvester Prierias and Ambrosius Catharinus, and the theologian and secretary to Duke Georg, Hieronymus Emser.* Responding now became part of Luther's daily routine, and his letters constantly discussed which to dignify with a personal response and where a reply could be delegated. But Luther found it difficult to let anything go: having decided that he could let his ‘famulus’, or servant- cum-secretary, Johann Lonicer reply to Augustin von Alveld, a Fran- ciscan from Leipzig, he could not resist penning one in German when Alveld had his polemic published in the vernacular.” The attacks became ever more extreme and personal. Alveld sent a virtual letter of feud, refusing to dignify Luther with his title of doctor and accusing him of acting out of vanity ‘in a womanly manner’.* Luther's oppo- nents attacked his parentage, and Luther quipped that they would soon be saying that he had a wife and children in Bohemia — the birthplace THE FREEDOM OF A CHRISTIAN 153 of the Hussite heresy — only to find himself soon put on the defensive, insisting in a letter to Spalatin that his relations in Eisenach would hardly have claimed him as their ‘nephew’, ‘uncle’, or ‘cousin’, ‘had they known that my father and my mother were Bohemians or other such people, rather than those born in their midst’.”

• From Lit: A Memoir (2009)

  There had been a time when the wide world was sunlit, every grass blade shining, but the sun’s spotlight has shrunk smaller and smaller. Now Warren is squeezed out. He’s a shade, an outline. I can’t see him anymore. (You could say I needed God then, which notion would’ve gagged me like a maggot. But if you’re a nonbeliever, replace the word God with truth or mercy . To kill truth to defend my fear was—in one way— to kill God. Oedipus wound up murdering his father because he ignored the divine warning that he would. When he learned the truth, his guilt so ruined him, he stabbed out his own eyes. Without truth, I was blind, worshipping my own fear-driven thoughts, and the ground beneath me never stopped heaving.) The next morning I find myself riding in circles around my dining room astride a truck, wanting to shriek with boredom, for that’s what I think mothering is—doing whatever my son does, himself not yet literate. That afternoon I bring Dev in solo to the warm-eyed psychologist, who tells me I don’t have to play with him nonstop. She has on a bulky green sweater and heavy boots that ground her to the floorboards as she points to him happily moving cars around on the rug. In tribal cultures, she says, mothers work in the fields, and kids—once they’ve learned not to fall in the cooking fires—run around in a gaggle like geese. Only in the 1950s did the bloated economy permit women to stay home concocting the current parenting fantasy. Till then, I’d believed my job was to impersonate a preschooler every second I was with Dev. In some ill-considered way, I hadn’t wanted him to feel so bad about being so short, so ill spoken and incontinent. Dr. G. looks at me, her forehead bending into a little tilde of concern as she says, You can cook or fold clothes or relax. But if I fold clothes, I say, he starts throwing them over his head. Tell him to stop, she says. I don’t want to yell at him. Dev looks up and—holding up his arms with open palms bent back to demonstrate the obviousness of her argument—says, then don’t yell at me. You don’t have to yell at him, she says. In fact, if you yell at him, what happens? He’ll yell back? I say. Worse. He’ll stop listening . Dev picks up two drumsticks and pounds out a one-two till he’s caught a fast trill. See, he’s an extremely talented noisemaker, I say. I am! he says, grinning with those black-lashed blue eyes of his as he bangs on. I tell him, I’m ratting you out for the yeller you are. Just worry less that you should be doing something for him every second, Dr. G. says. She tells me to call her in the afternoons if I’m reaching my wits’ end.

• From Martin Luther (2016)

  Around one in the morning he awoke, complaining again of cold and pain in the chest. ‘I think I will stay here at Eisleben where I was born and baptised’, he told Jonas with his usual wry humour. Again he walked into the privy unaided, repeating the same the words as before."* Johann Aurifaber, Coelius, two doctors, the owner of the house, and a clutch of local dignitaries and their wives had joined those looking after him, and he was again rubbed and given warmed cushions.” He did not receive the last rites, THE CHARIOTEER OF ISRAEL 401 in line with his conviction that extreme unction was not a sacrament: he trusted instead in his baptism. Luther spoke his final prayer, thanking God ‘that you revealed to me your dear Son Jesus Christ, in whom I believe, whom I have preached and proclaimed [and] whom the accursed Pope and all the godless shame, persecute and blaspheme against’. Even at the last, Luther balanced his love with his anger.’ Another valuable medicine was tried, but Luther said ‘I am travel- ling hence, I will relinquish my spirit.’ Again he repeated three times very quickly, in Latin, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit, You have redeemed me, God of Truth’, after which he fell silent. Jonas and Coelius now asked him: ‘Reverend Father, will you die faithful to Christ and to the doctrine you have preached?’ ‘Yes’, Luther replied clearly, so that all those around could hear him. He fell asleep again and, after quarter of an hour, he gave up his spirit ‘in stillness and great patience’. Jonas and Coelius, who wrote the account, noted that ‘no one could discern (to this we bear witnesses before God on our consciences) any unrest or discomfort of his body, or pains of death’.” Luther died, as he had lived, in public. The reason why his last moments were watched and chronicled in such detail was that, according to medieval belief, a good death, especially one without pain, was a sure sign that the person had lived well and would go to heaven; a bad death would have suggested that he was a heretic. Luther’s last moments therefore became a final proof, for if he had died in agony, or despaired in his final hour, the Protestant movement itself would have been put into question. Everyone dreaded a sudden, unexpected end which left the individual unable to receive the last rites. In Lutheranism there was no such sacrament and no ritual framework for dying and so the death itself became its own testament. Lutherans themselves had made much capital out of the unhappy deaths of their enemies in the past.”

• From A History of God (1993)

  They insisted on eating their meals in a state of ritual purity because they believed that the table of every single Jew was like God’s altar in the Temple. They cultivated a sense of God’s presence in the smallest detail of daily life. Jews could now approach him directly without the mediation of a priestly caste and an elaborate ritual. They could atone for their sins by acts of loving-kindness to their neighbor; charity was the most important mitzvah in the Torah; when two or three Jews studied the Torah together, God was in their midst. During the early years of the century, two rival schools had emerged: one led by Shammai the Elder, which was more rigorous, and the other led by the great Rabbi Hillel the Elder, which became by far the most popular Pharisaic party. There is a story that one day a pagan had approached Hillel and told him that he would be willing to convert to Judaism if the Master could recite the whole of the Torah to him while he stood on one leg. Hillel replied: “Do not do unto others as you would not have done unto you. That is the whole of the Torah: go and learn it.” 77 By the disastrous year 70, the Pharisees had become the most respected and important sect of Palestinian Judaism; they had already shown their people that they did not need a Temple to worship God, as this famous story shows: Once as Rabbi Yohannan ben Zakkai was coming forth from Jerusalem, Rabbi Joshua followed after him and beheld the Temple in ruins. “Woe unto us!” Rabbi Joshua said, “that this, the place where the iniquities of Israel were atoned for, is laid waste!” “My son,” Rabbi Yohannan said, “be not grieved. We have another atonement as effective as this. And what is it? It is acts of loving kindness, as it is said: ‘For I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ ” 78 It is said that after the conquest of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yohannan had been smuggled out of the burning city in a coffin. He had been opposed to the Jewish revolt and thought that the Jews would be better off without a state. The Romans allowed him to found a self-governing Pharisaic community at Jabneh, to the west of Jerusalem. Similar communities were founded in Palestine and Babylonia, which maintained close links.

• From Satyricon (1)

  Trimalchio was hugely tickled at this challenge. “Slaves are men, my friends,” he observed, “but that’s not all, they sucked the same milk that we did, even if hard luck has kept them down; and they’ll drink the water of freedom if I live: to make a long story short, I’m freeing all of them in my will. To Philargyrus, I’m leaving a farm, and his bedfellow, too. Carrio will get a tenement house and his twentieth, and a bed and bedclothes to boot. I’m making Fortunata my heir and I commend her to all my friends. I announce all this in public so that my household will love me as well now as they will when I’m dead.” They all commenced to pay tribute to the generosity of their master, when he, putting aside his trifling, ordered a copy of his will brought in, which same he read aloud from beginning to end, to the groaning accompaniment of the whole household. Then, looking at Habinnas, “What say you, my dearest friend,” he entreated; “you’ll construct my monument in keeping with the plans I’ve given you, won’t you? I earnestly beg that you carve a little bitch at the feet of my statue, some wreaths and some jars of perfume, and all of the fights of Petraites. Then I’ll be able to live even after I’m dead, thanks to your kindness. See to it that it has a frontage of one hundred feet and a depth of two hundred. I want fruit trees of every kind planted around my ashes; and plenty of vines, too, for it’s all wrong for a man to deck out his house when he’s alive, and then have no pains taken with the one he must stay in for a longer time, and that’s the reason I particularly desire that this notice be added: --THIS MONUMENT DOES NOT-- --DESCEND TO AN HEIR--

• From Martin Luther (2016)

  Juliane Kerkhecker generously worked with me on Luther’s Latin and many of her insights are in this book. Christian Preusse, Melinda Letts, Floris Verhaart, Edmund Wareham, Martin Christ, Mikey Pears and Raquel Candelas all gave invaluable research assistance; Candice Saunders made sure everything happened and provided flair. Nadja Pentzlin proved a phenomenal picture sleuth and organiser. Many audiences have helped me shape my ideas, and I’m grateful to them, as have many individuals, including Mette Ahlefeldt-Laurvig, Sarah Apetrei, Charlotte Appel, Wolfgang Behringer, Paul Betts, Sue Bottigheimer, Patrick Cane, Charles Colville, Natalie Zemon Davis, Martin Donnelly, Michael Drolet, Liz Fidlon, Etienne Francois, Laura Gowing, Rebekka Habermas, Adalbert Hepp, Michael Hunter, Susan Karant-Nunn, Thomas Kaufmann, Simone Laqua, Volker Leppin, Peter Macardle, Jan Machielsen, Hans Medick, Erik Midelfort, Hannah Murphy, Johannes Paulmann, Glyn Redworth, Tom Robisheaux, Ailsa Roper, Cath Roper, Miri Rubin, Alex Shepard, Philip Soergel, Hubert Stadler, Andreas Stahl, Willibald Steinmetz, Naomi Tadmor, Barbara Taylor, Bernd Weis- brod, Chris Wickham, Merry Wiesner, Tim Wilson, Sylvie Zannier and Charles Zika whose insights have all found their way into this book. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 427 Many friends read entire drafts, some even when the book was at a very early stage, generously discussed the ideas and made countless suggestions. I would like to thank in particular Alison Light, who has spent so many hours discussing Luther with me, and whose insights— and friendship—did much to shape the book; Daniel Pick, who helped me think psychoanalytically about Luther's character; Kat Hill, who has thought through this book with me from the start; Alex Walsham, who kept me going when I lost confidence in the project; Barbara Taylor, who helped sort out the introduction, and Gadi Algazi, from whom I have learnt so much. All of all them read and commented extensively on the book, as did Simon Ponsonby who made me rethink many of my interpretations; Rosi Bartlett, who inspired me to think differently about where things took place; my brother Mike Roper who saw what the book needed to do and kept me going, my Dad Stan Roper to whom it is dedicated; and Ulinka Rublack, whose work has so influenced my own for so many years. I have incorporated most of their suggestions but of course they are not to blame for my mistakes. Jorg Hensgen has been an amazing editor, tirelessly spotting every weak point in the book, ‘smoothing out the bumps’, as he puts it, and arguing with my interpretations: I could not have been more fortunate in having an editor trained in Lutheran theology. David Milner has been an eagle-eyed copy-editor, saving me from many howlers, and Anthony Hippisley an excellent proofreader. Clare Alexander is far more than an agent: she sup- ported me, protected me and made sure the book got finished. I am grateful also to Sally Riley who deals with foreign rights but so much more.