Gratitude as Leadership: Lessons from the Sisters

Guest Post – Gabriela Robles, Chief Executive

As we reach the midpoint of November and the first few weeks of “gratitude season,” I’ve been thinking a lot about how gratitude isn’t just a feeling. It can (and should) be a strategy and a way of leading, building relationships, and sustaining work. It’s something our founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph, taught me long ago without ever needing to say the word out loud.

The sisters talk about their “charism,” or spiritual identity, and how they live that out in the world. For them, gratitude shows up in how they hold space for others. They bring people to the table and truly see them, not just transactionally but as partners. The room they make for passion and purpose is gratitude in action.

The sisters model gratitude through humble, daily acts of love and care, which reflect a deeply rooted spiritual commitment to “serve the dear neighbor without distinction.” Their gratitude lives in the ordinary and the consistent. In this way, their gratitude becomes inseparable from their practice of hospitality. By welcoming others, especially the marginalized and those furthest from justice, into spaces of dignity, respect, and inclusion, they embody a kind of gratitude that sees every person as a blessing, a teacher, and a neighbor. This is the kind of gratitude that informs their ministries, making hospitality not just an action but a posture of the heart.

The sisters have always centered meaningful relationships. Their ministries are grounded in hospitality and reconciliation, creating the conditions for healing. In doing so, they offer others the chance to bring their whole selves to the work. That is a real gift.

Their thank-yous feel different than the gratitude we may feel from others. When a sister says thank you, it means something on an intense level because their gratitude is never performative. It’s intentional and meaningful, and something I try to carry with me.

A few days ago, at an event, a woman from our Community Building Initiative talked with me about her experiences with SJF and her appreciation for the opportunities the initiative offered. The conversation reminded me how far our work reaches. Even when we don’t see the impact, our work and that of our community leaders are touching lives.

It also reminded me of something else the sisters model so well: following up, reaching back out, staying connected. I’ve realized that, given how busy I am with work and family, I need to build more intentional connections into my daily routine. Things like making time for coffee with people, reconnecting, and saying thank you. It’s not a small thing. It’s everything.

Gratitude, done well, is transformational. It’s how we sustain ourselves and each other. It’s how we lead with love.

In the coming year, I want to be more intentional in reaching out, listening, and showing up for others as the sisters have modeled so beautifully. If you’re willing, I’d be grateful if you helped hold me to that. After all, relationships are not just part of the work—they are the work.