Last week, while at the gym, I listened to a podcast, which is my usual habit.

The podcast in my queue was Whitney Johnson’s Disrupt Yourself, and the guest was John Mackey, the founder and CEO of Whole Foods. Obviously, there was a lot of business strategy and wisdom presented, covering his founding of Whole Foods in 1980, his sale of Whole Foods to Amazon in 2017, and his continuing role as CEO.

Right at the end, Mackey referred to the meetings he conducts with the senior leadership of Whole Foods, and mentioned a regular feature of those meetings. The feature is an open question at the end of the meeting, “Would anyone like to appreciate a fellow team member?” And Mackey took a few minutes to express appreciation for Steve Macintosh and Carter Phillips, coauthors of his latest book,

Conscious Leadership. At that point, Whitney asked John Mackey, “Is there anyone else you would like to appreciate on your team or in the world right now as we as we close out?”

Mackey’s response was a tribute to his wife, Deborah, to whom he has been married 29 years. “I definitely married up. My wife is, is very spiritually awake and she has helped me tremendously. So, I want to call out for Deborah. She’s, she’s amazing. And I hope other people can be as fortunate as I’ve been in terms of their, of their marriages.”

This made me think about who I most need to express some appreciation to here as we begin a new year. Here are several individuals and groups who come to mind…

• First on my list is my wife, Anne Wrotenbery Donaldson. We have been married 44 years (dating us a bit here…) and I am so blessed to have this woman as a life partner and the mother of our children. Anne is grounded in making big commitments, stepping up to the tasks at hand, holding my feet to the fire when I make a commitment, serving (usually behind the scenes), and being a rock of loyalty and consistently dependable for any person or cause to whom she is committed. Thank you, Lord for 4+ decades with Anne!
• My adult offspring and their spouses—Beth and Brett and Clint and Kerry—who inspire me with their maturity, leadership, and impact, and make me want to be like them when I grow up…
• Leaders, mentors, and managers with whom I have worked over the years, starting with my life and spiritual mentor of 50+ years, Britton Wood (still going strong at age 87,) and including Chris Thompson in Fargo, one of several great managers I had at Microsoft who happened to be females 20 years younger than me.
• Friends of many years, including Dennis Seely, a fellow-only-child who can call BS on me every time, Charles Revis, a grad-school housemate who has stayed in touch all these years, and Darren Gardner who started at Microsoft the same day I did in 1992 and inspires me and holds me accountable today.
• Clients and collaborators from ministry days, from a 23 year career at Microsoft, and these last 5 years in professional coaching.

Who do you need to offer a word of appreciation? Who has invested in you, collaborated with you, guided your, inspired you, made you great in ways you would not have imagined?

Take time to make a call (yes, unscheduled phone calls are still accepted by many people…) or send an email. Or you can mention someone in social media.

If you really want to do something radical, send a brief written note of appreciation. I still have the note I received last year from my optometrist back in the DFW area—Carolyn Helbert-Green—who treated me for 25 years. (You can always text that person to get their address… they will wonder what you’re up to!)

And you might follow John Mackey’s lead, and ask this question in your next team meeting or group gathering: Would anyone like to appreciate a fellow team member?