Read an Excerpt: From an Interview with the Founder and CEO of Booster, Chris Carneal
Have you ever felt like your organization is moving in an unclear direction, lacks a bonding force that brings people together, or doesn’t serve its employees or partners as well as it could? In his new book Gravitude, Mark Bowling addresses these issues and more. He writes that the root cause of many organization’s problems is a lack of gratitude–which encompasses much more than just “feeling thankful.” For Mark, cultivating gratitude in the workplace takes significant time, thought, and effort, but the end results are truly transformative. Not only can cultivating gratitude make work feel less transactional, it can create a remarkably happy work environment that ensures employees are supported, inspired, and excited to do their best work.
In the book, Mark makes sure to include input from other thought leaders on the subject of gratitude. One of these figures is Chris Carneal, the founder and CEO of Booster, which has supported over 7,500 schools in their fundraising efforts.
In today’s blog, we are sharing an excerpt from Mark’s interview with Chris. But first, an introduction!
Meet Chris Carneal
Chris Carneal is an influential and innovative businessman based in Atlanta, Georgia. He set out to create Booster with the goal of strengthening schools through out-of-the-box fundraising. After the first forty-nine school principals Chris spoke to said he had a great idea but that they didn’t want to be his guinea pig, the fiftieth principal said “yes,” and Booster helped that school meet and exceed their original fundraising goal by three times. From fun runs to custom gear and much more, Booster has since helped 7,500 K-12 schools and colleges profit from more than $700 million in donations from the company’s inception in 2002 through 2024.
Like Mark Bowling, Chris believes that leaders have a deep responsibility to care for their employees, through words and through action. “As a leader, you’re always cultivating something,” Chris said in a podcast episode on The Jeff Hopeck Show. “I see my role like tending to a field: I don’t control the sun or the rain, but I do work the ground, making it ready for the harvest. And when you cultivate well—your people, your team—they grow into something amazing.”
Let’s dive into the beginning of Chris’s interview with Mark.
Read an Excerpt of an Interview with Chris Carneal
“Q: Why does Booster have virtues instead of values?
A: For the first 18 years of Booster we focused on values, such as integrity, enthusiasm, leadership, results, and community. I started to see those words show up in lots of organizations. Thus they were not distinctive to Booster. I also felt they were too broad and left room for misinterpretations.
As I wrestled with this, I ran across the ancient word “virtue.” It implied something deeper and more timeless. I felt that “values” could be ambiguous and wanted the foundation of our company to be anchored on something timeless, something that wouldn’t change in 30 or 50 years, something that would be just as relevant to a 22-year-old as an 82-year-old, without a religious or political viewpoint.
I also felt “virtue” could be something we didn’t just stand for, but something we could aspire to be. Because my worldview concerns Booster’s need to inspire and encourage our team, both in and outside of work, why not choose words that transcended the office to life beyond it? So Booster has since established itself on the virtues of gratitude, wisdom, care, courage, grit, and celebration.
Q: Why is gratitude the first virtue?
A: Cicero once said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” I find that if I start every day with an expression of gratitude to God for my life, my wife, my kids, my family, my company, my friends, my community my perspective changes for everything that follows. Days are better when I have a grateful heart, so I intentionally seek ways to prime gratitude, reproduce gratitude, and communicate gratitude.”
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Interested in reading the rest of Chris’s interview? He talks about the importance of handwritten notes at Booster, how he views identity (the sixth pillar of Gravitude), and how his company makes a memorable first impression on their new employees (hint: it involves actual confetti cannons). Purchase Gravitude to learn more about gratitude from Chris, Mark, and a variety of other thought leaders in the business world. Not only can you learn to grow your organization through the power of gratitude, but you can ensure all your people–from your long-time leaders to your newest employee–feel heard, valued, and motivated.
If your organizational culture is an example of Gravitude in action, please contact me. I would like to feature your story in future blog posts.
Gravitude can be found wherever books are sold! My favorites are:
Barnes & Noble (still love to support the brick and mortar)
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