One Christmas, a boss gifted us a book on mindful leadership.
āOk, so you are a mindful jerk.ā Someone quipped.Ā
āI want to reciprocate with āThe Five Dysfunctions of a Teamā book.ā Joked another.
Another time we received cans of artisanal Baltic sardines. Greg the vegan tweeted, āItās not personal. Itās not personal.šš»ā
And those one size only hoodies, branded mugs from the company (budget), still sit in my closet. (Itās rude to re-gift āBreath to Win #TeamMINDFULā polos)
Gifting is hard, especially at work. But itās the thought that counts, isnāt it?
Gifting can be narcissistic when it is a mass-AirDrop of virtue signals: My kind of book, reishi coffee, documentary, etc. Similarly, gifting at work can become jabs of performance reviews:
āDave,Ā
Great BookāāāāMindsetāāāChanging the way you thinkā.Ā
H.H.,Ā
Your Friendā
In essence, gifting is committing to the āimaginative journey to put oneself in the mind and the anticipation of anotherā. Kick-ass gifts are delightful, witty, and, yes, loving. Yet gifting is mentally torturing and risky to your reputation. Therefore gifting can become the work to hone empathy and courage.
The thought counts because of āthe imagination behind the thought, and the effort in making this imagination tangible.ā
*Quotes from David Whyte