Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results

Chapter 1FROM “I’M MAD AS HELL!” TO ACKNOWLEDGMENT ACTIVIST

Years ago I was troubled by the way people spoke to me or acted toward me at my job at CBS Television while I was pregnant. So I wrote an article for Working Woman magazine entitled “How NOT to Talk to a Pregnant Businesswoman.”¹ Overnight, I became the authority on this subject, appearing on Good Morning America and a multitude of radio stations.

I achieved this notoriety simply because no one else was talking about this phenomenon publicly. I had only opened my mouth (or poised my pen) and offered some commonsense, no-brainer (at least to me) “rules” of communication to create a more respectful environment in the workplace.

For example, I wrote in the article:

“As for touching a pregnant ...