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There are other things I could talk about today. I just saw a really clever campaign, a bunch of resorts are crushing their summer so far, and some new tech is rolling out I can’t wait to cover.

But today I want to talk about three conversations I’ve had in the last few weeks.

All three were with someone who is either currently dealing with or recently dealt with some level of burnout. They gave their job everything, they hustled, they showed up day after day, but after a while they weight on one side of the scale slowly starting tipping away from sustainable and something broke.

There are a handful of factors in place all of these situations, but none are unique.

After digging for a while I had the thought to ask a question that I had been talking about a few months ago with an old friend.

“Do you feel like your boss recognizes and appreciates what you do for the team and company?”

In every case, the didn’t have to think about it for more than a second before responding with a single word.

“No.”

I don’t know if this is the biggest reason all of these folks I talked to had burned out, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it played a key role. In the resort industry people often work long hours and are paid a small percentage of what that old roommate does with her mainstream job in the city. But great views and a meaningful product can only carry so much weight when that sacrifice and hustle go unnoticed, unappreciated, and taken for granted. When you put your heart into a long shift only to have your boss respond with indifference. Or frustration at something they wish you’d have done differently instead of recognizing all the good you had done.

Expressing gratitude and appreciation for others and their work comes really naturally to some people and, for whatever reason, is harder for others. I’ve been in both camps, sometimes it’s easy to open the gratitude jar for those around me and sometimes the lid is stuck on tight and I keep those kind words to myself. I don’t know why.

It’s a skill we all have to practice and, like Warren Miller might say; if you don’t get better at it this year you’ll be one year older when you do.

So before you head home this evening and however you’re comfortable with it, find a way to show your team how much you appreciate them. And do so both individually and collectively. A shout-out to the team during a meeting is awesome, but getting pulled aside and receiving a big dose of gratitude one-on-one?

Man, that’s strong stuff.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.