Happy Thanksgiving! This Year It Is No Longer Humiliating To Be Explaining Your Unemployment Around the Thanksgiving Table!

Happy Thanksgiving! This Year, Be Thankful for Your Career

You can read the full article from Stephen Viscusi on the HuffPost Contributor platform, where he takes the Thanksgiving holiday as an opportunity to reflect on gratitude in the workplace. In a career landscape where it is easy to focus on what is going wrong — a difficult boss, a stalled promotion, a frustrating commute — Viscusi makes the case for stepping back and recognizing what is going right.

Gratitude as a Career Strategy

Viscusi's column is not just a holiday pleasantry. His underlying message is that gratitude is a surprisingly effective professional tool. The people who take time to appreciate their colleagues, acknowledge the opportunities they have been given, and maintain perspective during tough stretches tend to build stronger relationships, earn more trust from leadership, and create the kind of reputation that opens doors down the road.

As a recruiter who has spent over three decades evaluating professionals at every level, Viscusi has noticed a clear pattern: the most successful people he has placed are rarely the ones who complain the loudest or constantly chase the next thing. They are the ones who bring a positive, grounded energy to their work — and that energy is contagious. Hiring managers notice it immediately in interviews, colleagues gravitate toward it in the office, and clients remember it long after a project is finished.

The Holiday Season and Your Professional Relationships

Thanksgiving also marks the beginning of a season that is uniquely powerful for professional networking and relationship building. A thoughtful thank-you note to a mentor, a genuine check-in with a former colleague, or a quick message to a client expressing appreciation can strengthen bonds that pay dividends for years. These small gestures are often more impactful than any formal networking event or LinkedIn connection request.

In the contract furniture and interiors industry, where long-term relationships are the foundation of every dealership and manufacturer partnership, this is especially true. The professionals who take time to nurture their network during the holidays — without any agenda beyond genuine appreciation — consistently outperform those who only reach out when they need something.

Stephen Viscusi's Workplace Commentary

As a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, Stephen Viscusi has written extensively about hiring practices, workplace culture, compensation trends, and the evolving expectations of employers and employees. His columns draw from over three decades of hands-on experience running one of the nation's leading executive search firms, giving his commentary a practical edge that resonates with business leaders and job seekers alike.

Viscusi's writing has also appeared in The New York Post, Divine Caroline, and The Ladders. On television, he has been a recurring workplace expert on NBC/Universal's Steve Harvey Show, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NPR. ABC's Charles Gibson called him "America's Workplace Guru."

About Stephen Viscusi and The Viscusi Group

Stephen Viscusi is the CEO and founder of The Viscusi Group, a retainer-based executive search firm that specializes in the interior furnishings industry. He started his career at Haworth and has spent over thirty years placing talent across the contract furniture, residential furnishings, and architectural products sectors. Viscusi is also the New York Times bestselling author of On the Job (Random House) and Bulletproof Your Job (HarperCollins), published in 18 languages worldwide.

Hires made through The Viscusi Group are backed by an industry-leading replacement guarantee, reflecting our confidence in every placement we make.

Please share your story or comment on this article and send your workplace questions to stephen@viscusigroup.com. Or give us a call at (212) 979-5700 ext. 101.

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