What a memorable day at my house last Sunday. Because it was Father's Day, my amazing daughters and wonderful wife went the extra mile in making the day special. There was the incredible lunch, time spent reminiscing about parenting, and a whole host of other moments directed toward me.

In the past, such days have made me uncomfortable.

When I think of professional athletes, "humility" isn't often the word that comes to mind. I think of self-absorbed individuals who want two things more than anyone else... to win and to make exorbitant amounts of money. I know that's an unfair perspective. It's just been fueled by my casual reading of sports headlines and what I allow news outlets to feed to me. I'll also remember NBA great Charles Barkley saying, "I'm not a role model."

At the General Hugh Shelton Leadership Forum last week, an executive from Cisco Systems made an interesting comment. He said that we are in the season of expressing gratitude that begins with Veterans Day. He's right. I find myself having a stronger focus on being thankful during this time of year than any other. It also caused me to wonder how well we do in saying "Thanks" to others in the workplace. I was disappointed by what I found. Consider the following statistics from a study at Berkeley: