Holding Ambition and Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Leadership Reflection

In this special Thanksgiving episode of The Leadership Vision Podcast, Nathan Freeburg reflects on the leadership posture of holding long-term goals and present-moment gratitude simultaneously. Drawing from themes within Dr. Linda and Brian Schubring’s book Unfolded: Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane, Nathan explores why transformation grows slowly — through small, daily practices that shape who we become over time.

This episode offers a grounding, accessible reflection for leaders, teams, and anyone hoping to reconnect with purpose, gratitude, and the meaningful work unfolding in their lives.

Reflection

Take a few moments to pause and appreciate and express gratitude for both:

1. The things you’re doing right now, however ordinary they may feel.
2. The things you’re working toward, however far away they may seem.

What You’ll Learn

• Why gratitude is a fundamental leadership skill
• How ambition and appreciation work together in healthy leadership
• Why transformation happens through small, consistent habits
• A practical Thanksgiving reflection to use personally or with your team

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Unfolded: Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane — Dr. Linda & Brian Schubring
• Leadership Vision Website: https://www.leadershipvisionconsulting.com
• All Podcast Episodes: https://www.leadershipvisionconsulting.com/podcast

🎉 Unfolded is a National Bestseller!
#1 in Business & #5 Overall on USA Today
#17 on Publisher’s Weekly Nonfiction
📘 Grab your copy + get the FREE Reflection Guide!

Chapters

• 0:00 Thanksgiving Theme And Purpose
• 2:30 James Clear’s Two-Part Practice
• 3:03 Long-Term Goals And Daily Gratitude
• 4:14 The Origami Crane Lesson
• 5:48 Two Gratitude Actions And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:53

Hello and welcome to this special Thanksgiving episode of the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. My name is Nathan Freeberg, and it's Thanksgiving week here in the United States, a time of general thankfulness, or at least it should be. Now, for the past 10 years or so, our team has taken a few moments around the Thanksgiving holiday to reflect on what we're grateful for. Now, over time, this practice has evolved. First as a blog post, then as a podcast. Sometimes it's been a team-wide conversation, or just Brian, Linda, and I discussing an idea. But other times like today, it's just been me sharing a reflection, triggered by something I've read, a podcast I've heard, or another piece of wisdom that sparks reflection about the role that gratitude and generosity plays in our life. This year, that spark came from an email newsletter I subscribed to by author James Clear, who wrote the book Atomic Habits. In his email from October 23rd of this year, one line really stood up. He wrote, Each day, spend some time on two things, working towards something that will pay off years from now, and appreciating something that is happening right now. I love that idea. Or I guess it's two ideas. And I'm gonna tweak it just a little bit here to fit our Thanksgiving theme: holding long-term ambition in one hand and present gratitude in the other. Now, for some weird reason, the first thing that came to my mind was my Roth IRA retirement plan, which honestly might be the most boring thing to talk about. I started it like 20 plus years ago, we contribute to it every month, and we're not gonna appreciate it for another 20 years or so. Just on autopilot, quietly doing its thing in the background. I rarely, if ever, think about it, but I'm really glad it's there, because that small, steady discipline is building something that's important for our family's future, even if it's not particularly exciting at any one given moment. Now, the more I thought about this idea, present and future gratitude, the more I realized that those ideas are true for so many areas of life. Healthy eating, exercising, finding time for quiet, even like investing in relationships or spending time with a spouse or kids. None of those things necessarily offer immediate, like big rewards. And in fact, most of them require some level of sacrifice or discipline right now for a benefit of any kind, most of which may not show up for years down the road. Now, I think there's lots of big things that we all want to happen in our lives or ways that we want to be. We want to be healthy, we want to have strong, meaningful relationships, we want to have social connections with those who bring us joy, we want to do work that is meaningful. But I can often forget how much constant daily attention each one of those big, audacious, eventually that'll be successful things down the road, how much that actually requires. Doesn't just happen by intention or wishing or whatever, it unfolds slowly through the accumulation of countless small, often pretty ordinary moments. So perhaps this Thanksgiving, we can start by simply reflecting on both of these things: the big things we hope for and the small things that quietly move us toward them. Now, this idea, it also reminded me of Dr. Linda and Brian Schuberg's book, Unfolded, Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane. The story of O.C., the little origami crane who dreams of flying captures this same tension, I think. Holding on to big, beautiful dreams while practicing the daily habits that make transformation possible. OC doesn't fly on her first try. She plays, then she fails, then she practices, then she fails, and she practices, she tries again and again. Her dream is always out ahead of her, but her growth is happening in every small moment along the way. And like OC, all of us have dreams, or at least I hope we do, personal or professional, and it's easy to get so focused on where we're headed that we forget to appreciate right here, right where we are. Or maybe to flip that around, it's easy to get so wrapped up in the daily grind of right here that we forget to look up and to dream. So as we enter this Thanksgiving week here, 2025 and beyond, I want to challenge you to take just a few moments to pause and appreciate and express gratitude for two things. Number one, the things that you're doing right now, however ordinary that they may feel. And number two, the things that you're working toward, however far away they may seem. Write these things down. Share them with a friend, a family member, or a colleague, because if we can hold both gratitude for the present and hope for the future, we're far more likely to arrive where we want to go. Maybe gratitude isn't just about what's behind us or ahead of us. Maybe it's the quiet awareness that both are happening at the same time. Right here, right now. Wherever you are listening from today, maybe you're cooking, traveling, resting, or even if you're not in the United States, I hope you take a breath, pause for a moment, and notice what's already unfolding. Thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. If you found value from this episode or any of our other materials, we would love it if you could tell a friend, if you could subscribe, go to Leadership Vision Consulting.com slash subscribe. There's also a link in the show notes for that. And most importantly, just take a few moments, just a few moments, to do even just one of the things mentioned here today. My name is Nathan Freeberg, and on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening. Happy Thanksgiving.