Logan Mallory of Motivosity: How We Can Leverage The Power Of Gratitude To Improve Our Overall Mental Wellness

Serving others is an immediate way to increase gratitude and therefore mental wellbeing. During this last Christmas my father-in-law rang the Salvation Army bell at our local mall and we took our kids to visit Grandpa so they could make a donation. No more than 25 yards away from us was a homeless person asking for money and when my father-in-law’s shift ended I watched him go over and briefly visit with them. I don’t know if he gave them any of his own money (it’s safe to assume he did) but he spent a few moments treating them like a human being. It was a brief moment and the most basic form of service, but it was a great reminder of how fortunate our tribe is. Whether your service comes in the form of money, time, or energy, it will likely put you in a position to see people who are less fortunate than you, which will likely lead to an appreciation for what (or who) you have in your life.

As we all know, times are tough right now. In addition to the acute medical crisis caused by the Pandemic, in our post COVID world, we are also experiencing what some have called a “mental health pandemic”.

What can each of us do to get out of this “Pandemic Induced Mental and Emotional Funk”?

One tool that each of us has access to is the simple power of daily gratitude. As a part of our series about the “How Each Of Us Can Leverage The Power Of Gratitude To Improve Our Overall Mental Wellness” I had the pleasure of interviewing Logan Mallory.

Logan Mallory is the Vice President of Marketing at Motivosity and an author/speaker on Leadership, HR and Employee Engagement topics. With a background in SaaS, he has previously worked for LogMeIn, Jive, and Workfront. In addition to his role as a marketer, Logan teaches as an adjunct professor at BYU’s Marriott School of Business and is a board member of the Silicon Slopes Marketing Chapter. He hopes to see the Utah Jazz win an NBA championship this year. More importantly, he hopes his four kids grow up to be nice people and once that happens he’ll take his wife, sans children, on a trip see the Northern Lights.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about you and about what brought you to your specific career path?

So glad to be involved — thanks for letting me join you on this topic! My family wasn’t really into sports, instead our extra curricular activity was student government! With the exception of one year, I was in student council for all of grade school and built part of “who I am” in that setting. For most of high school I was convinced that I wanted to go to law school and eventually become the President of the United States. Almost 20 years later and knowing what I know now, I’m certainly thrilled that’s not the direction I took my career.

Instead I pursued a career in sales and while working for a firm in Seattle I was asked to help with a digital marketing project. That was my first exposure to digital marketing, but I immediately knew it was exactly where I was supposed to be. I developed my skillset and since then I have carefully selected my next/new roles in order to be a marketer with command of all the marketing disciplines. I spent four years in B2C e-commerce and was focused on product, pricing, placement, promotion. Then I shifted into B2B Tech and gained an understanding of digital properties, long sales cycles and SEO. My next role focused on B2B Tech again, but in a more transactional setting and I focused on program spend, demand creation and marketing budgets.

When Motivosity approached me for the VP of Marketing role, I knew it was the perfect opportunity for me to deepen my understanding of brands, product marketing and the full responsibility for marketing generated revenue. It’s been a wonderful “next step” and I’m glad to be developing another piece to the marketing puzzle.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

In early 2020 I traveled to Florida for the annual LogMeIn sales kickoff, but because of some rare, mid-day traffic I missed my flight and ended up leaving Salt Lake after dinner. Our flight was one of the last to land in Orlando and I walked with just 45–50 people from the terminal to the baggage claim. While riding the tram I noticed an unlikely pair: an older woman and a younger man…he had his arm around her awkwardly and the situation just felt off.

Initially I didn’t think much of it but after a moment I realized she was incredibly drunk and he was practically holding her up. The train stopped and as everyone got off I decided I’d take it slow so I could make sure everything was alright. He guided her off the train and lingered behind the group and I just knew something wasn’t right. All the passengers turned right to go down the escalator, but this man started walking the woman to the opposite side of the airport where there weren’t any people. She stumbled and fell flat on her face, which was my excuse to step in. I ran over, picked her up and started asking questions. They didn’t know each other, he had been buying her drinks the entire plane ride and she couldn’t remember where she lived. So keeping my eye on them I ran and got security and as soon as I told them security was coming to help, he took off. She was clearly in a bad situation and didn’t know it.

Despite being so angry when I originally missed my flight (and missing a party at Universal Studios) I realized I was able to keep that woman from what seemed like a really bad set of circumstances. Am I a super hero? Maybe. Was that completely about work? No…but still a really crazy story from a work situation. I hope that counts.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why do you think that resonates with you? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

The late Clayton Christensen wrote a book called “How Will You Measure Your Life?” and in it he talks about professionals who focus so much on their work that they ignore their family, children or other relationships. Then when they truly need those relationships (once they’re successful or their health fails or they don’t find fulfillment in work anymore) it’s too late and the relationships have “expired”. He says “It’s like planting a sapling when you need shade.” Such a strong and meaningful concept. I’m not perfect at that, but I’m trying to balance my work and my family so that I have meaningful relationships with them in the short and long term.

The same concept applies to networking. If you start networking when you need a job, it’s not very authentic and people can sense that from a mile away. If you want a network to help you get a future job, now is the time. Plant the sapling before you need the shade.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story about why that resonated with you?

Keith Ferrazzi wrote “Never Eat Alone”. He covers so many great topics and recommendations, but one of my favorites is that “you shouldn’t keep score”. Don’t pay for lunch and then expect the person to pay next time. Or don’t make an introduction with the expectation that they’ll do the same for you in the future. Don’t do someone a favor and feel like “they owe me one”. Instead, he suggests that you just help people to help people and that will build a meaningful collection of relationships. It’s essentially his take on an “abundance mentality” and that “the pie is big enough for everyone and it gets bigger as you help others”. I long to more consistently live my life from that place.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Did you know that, according to Gallup, 70% of the variance in employee engagement is based on a person’s manager? So companies can buy ping-pong tables, bring lunch in every week and have a generous PTO policy but that still only accounts for 30% of the employee engagement equation. If you want to really build great cultures then you have to focus on your managers. I’m working on a project at Motivosity that addresses this need.

Have you ever gone into your 1 on 1 and it’s clear your boss isn’t at all prepared? Or left a meeting with your manager and wondered if you really understood what your priorities are? Maybe you haven’t had a 1 on 1 all year? Ever wish your manager showed a little more appreciation for your day to day efforts? Motivosity has created a way to solve those problems. It’s the easiest way to manage interactions between leaders and their team members. Primarily it makes one on ones easy, helps managers focus on the right things (priorities and appreciation), and gives everyone, (including managers, employees, and corporate) visibility into those interactions. We’re developing and executing go-to-market plans for the platform and it’s having an immediate impact on those that are using it. That is so motivating to be a part of. I wouldn’t share this if it weren’t, but this functionality from Motivosity is completely free for anyone who is interested.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I just lost a great mentor to cancer in 2020. Mike Messmore was never my teacher in high school, but I was a student leader assigned to his class for a school assembly. That was our first interaction, and the day we became friends. Over the years we were racquetball partners and pen pals. When I was considering a career change, I spent a day in his classroom shadowing him and learning about why he left law school to become a teacher. He was a wonderful man. We had different political perspectives. I’m sure he thought my religious beliefs were extreme. But he was kind and made me feel like I was important and could accomplish anything. His counsel was always practical and encouraging.

Mike had been sick with cancer for more than 15 years, but continued to fight through treatments. I wrote him an email in December and later that night opened Facebook only to see an announcement that he had passed away.

I’m better because he took time to coach and mentor me. He was never my teacher at Brighton High School, but he was absolutely my teacher and I will forever be grateful for him.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now that we are on the topic of gratitude, let’s move to the main focus of our interview. As you know, the collective mental health of our country is facing extreme pressure. We would like to explore together how every one of us can use gratitude to improve our mental wellness. Let’s start with a basic definition of terms. How do you define the concept of Gratitude? Can you explain what you mean?

What if gratitude and the idea of ‘contentment” are synonymous? Perhaps gratitude is simply recognizing what you do have instead of thinking about what you don’t have. It is so easy to be thankful for physical items or luxuries…”I’m thankful for my house”, “I’m grateful to to be able to record sports on TV”, “I appreciate how convenient my iPhone makes things”, etc. Gratitude however represents an appreciation for the intangibles. It’s a deep sentiment and I’d associate it more with the interactions we have with other people. Gratitude for the person who stays in the hospital with you. Gratitude for the old friend that remembers your birthday. Gratitude for the neighbor that always waves as you drive into the neighborhood.

Gratitude becomes a more permanent state of being rather than a temporary, fleeting thought. And, though not exclusive of conveniences, it’s really more about experiences, connections, and relationships.

Why do you think so many people do not feel gratitude? How would you articulate why a simple emotion can be so elusive?

In his book “More than Enough” Dave Ramsey has a really fascinating thought. He says, ”Happiness is like the bully on the schoolyard: He draws a line in the sand and dares you to cross it. When you cross the line he backs up and draws another, daring you to cross that. If you don’t find happiness where you are, you will never find it.”

I think gratitude eludes us because we try to satisfy the wrong cravings. We want a bigger house like our sibling just bought. Or we want to go on a vacation like the one our coworker talked about in their Facebook post. We need the new iPhone (which will just be outdated by next September anyway). In a society like ours, we’re looking in the wrong places for happiness, so gratitude doesn’t have a chance to flourish. We don’t try to find happiness “where we are.”

The other obstacle to gratitude is the pace at which we live. There’s a tie between gratitude and being mindful or aware. If you’re speeding to work, running from meeting to meeting and then driving your kids to activities five nights a week, it’s very difficult to slow down long enough to recognize all that you can be grateful for. I recently traveled to north eastern Georgia for a family vacation. We were in a beautiful house buried in the woods near Chattahoochee National Forest. The home had a screened in porch that overlooked the trees and a small creek that ran through the backyard. Even though it was cold, I spent time each day sitting with my feet up, listening to the noises of the forest and sitting in the fresh air. No phone, no email, no agenda. It was a wonderful few moments each day where I was reminded that I have much to be grateful for.

I believe you give gratitude a better chance to exist when you’ve stepped away from your normal routine.

This might be intuitive to you but I think it will be constructive to help spell it out. Can you share with us a few ways that increased gratitude can benefit and enhance our life?

There are no questions about the reality that gratitude makes our lives better. One of the key benefits is so simple: grateful people have better relationships and better relationships improve all aspects of our lives. Those relationships may be intimate, personal, or professional but the impact is the same — grateful people have better interactions with others. Research from Harvard led to the following: ‘A study of couples found that individuals who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only felt more positive toward the other person but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about their relationship. Managers who remember to say “thank you” to people who work for them may find that those employees feel motivated to work harder.”

This even applies to the relationship between employees and employers. People want their boss, manager, and executives to be grateful FOR them. Scott Johnson, CEO and Founder of Motivosity, was recently quoted in Forbes on the topic of “appreciation at work” and said, “Companies know that the mental health of their teams has become a significant concern. More than 74% of employees indicated that their mental health is tied to how well they feel appreciated at work. Successful employers will have a meaningful plan to address that.”

Let’s talk about mental wellness in particular. Can you share with us a few examples of how gratitude can help improve mental wellness?

Can you think of any kind of bad result from being grateful? It reduces your focus on materialistic items, improves family relationships in stressful times, makes you more likable, makes you happier and like yourself better, reduces toxic emotions (regret, frustration, anger, envy), helps you sleep better, reduces substance dependence, causes an increase in your energy levels, improves to your ability to be resilient, makes you a better manager, a better spouse/partner, a better…everything. There’s not a single item in that list that doesn’t improve mental wellness.

We live in a time where people are self-centered, quick to be angry, combative, and always unsatisfied — clearly not an environment where mental wellbeing can thrive. Maybe gratitude could end up being our secret weapon to overcoming the social pandemics of hate, blaming and harm that have arisen in the last few years.

Ok wonderful. Now here is the main question of our discussion. From your experience or research, what are “Five Ways That Each Of Us Can Leverage The Power Of Gratitude To Improve Our Overall Mental Wellness”. Can you please share a story or example for each?

Service: Serving others is an immediate way to increase gratitude and therefore mental wellbeing. During this last Christmas my father-in-law rang the Salvation Army bell at our local mall and we took our kids to visit Grandpa so they could make a donation. No more than 25 yards away from us was a homeless person asking for money and when my father-in-law’s shift ended I watched him go over and briefly visit with them. I don’t know if he gave them any of his own money (it’s safe to assume he did) but he spent a few moments treating them like a human being. It was a brief moment and the most basic form of service, but it was a great reminder of how fortunate our tribe is. Whether your service comes in the form of money, time, or energy, it will likely put you in a position to see people who are less fortunate than you, which will likely lead to an appreciation for what (or who) you have in your life.

Is there a particular practice that can be used during a time when one is feeling really down, really vulnerable, or really sensitive?

I’m a firm believer in the idea of “Core Stories”, which was taught to me by Robert E. Quinn, Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. As I internalized it, core stories are powerful experiences that you have throughout your life and fundamentally impact who you are. For example, I have core stories associated with my relationship with my father. As a child I watched him during a period of unemployment and learned from his tenacity as he worked to provide for our family regardless. I have a core story about the time I made a juvenile mistake at school and he stood up for my character. There are four or five other stories about my dad with a direct impact on my life.

When I feel down or vulnerable, I mentally reference those stories and immediately realize I have a dad that loves me and does everything he can to support me. It’s impossible to not be filled with gratitude when I consider that relationship and our experience together.

What core stories do you have? When did someone sacrifice for you? What mentors have gone out of their way to train or coach you? What advantages did you have in your path? What obstacles in your life have made you stronger, more resilient, or better equipped? The core stories of your life can trigger reminders of what has been great and that can lead to gratitude. Notice and record those memories so they are there for you when you need to recall them.

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources that you would recommend to our readers to help them to live with gratitude?

If you haven’t watched “The Happy Secret to Better Work” by Shawn Actor yet, then you are missing out on a key resource. He talks about training your brain to be more positive, which opens up the door for gratitude. They are simple steps and he explains them in a hilarious and engaging way. It only has 3.4 million views on YouTube, so go watch it and you’ll practically be an early adopter.

Though this is about happiness rather than specifically about gratitude (the two go hand in hand), Yale continues to offer a free course called “The Science of Well-Being”. I’m just starting it as it was recommended but a trusted source. Also it has 4.9 stars based on 26,000 reviews. If you want a chance to live from a place of gratitude, this course is clearly a meaningful resource. Positivepsychology.com has a wonderful article entitled “13 Most Popular Gratitude Exercises & Activities”. It’s a few years old, but has meaningful action items you can take to exercise your gratitude muscle.

I’m involved with “The Silver Linings Podcast” and we interview Leaders that on “silver lining moments” and how they find the good at work, with their teams, their personal life, etc. If you want a boost of positivity that will lead to gratitude, it’s a great way to spend 20 minutes. We interview the kind of people that will help you realize how much you have to be grateful for!

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

On a September night when I was 17 I ran away from home. I was somewhere in the middle of Ohio and it was the middle of the night when I decided to turn around and go back to Michigan. I was in charge of a student council meeting the next morning and it felt irresponsible to not be there. I was the student body president…I was lonely and desperate enough to run away, but I was determined enough to come back and muscle through.

That’s the perfect representation of my mental health struggles for the last 20 years. High functioning, but always some anxiety or loneliness lingering in my background. So what kind of movement would I start? I’d start something that reduced or removed the stigma of mental health struggles…something that ”surfaces mental health issues through community, conversation, and care.”

The good news is, this movement is already underway by two fine gentleman that want to make a difference. They started “We.are.mind” and currently they are using their proceeds to provide free therapy to those that can’t afford it. I love what they’re doing. My only regret is that they had the vision before I did, but I’m proud of them for their courage.

What is the best way our readers can further follow your work online?

LinkedIn is like my second home — I hope readers will connect with me there. I also write with some frequency on the Motivosity blog regarding employee engagement, leadership, and other HR related topics.

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!