What was required to achieve what he did?

Every year, the hospital provided free turkeys to employees during the Thanksgiving holiday. Eventually, the tradition became an entitlement and a significant financial obligation. Rather than perpetuate the entitlement mentality, the executive team transformed this time-honored tradition into a meaningful and purposeful event.
Instead of distributing gift coupons for staff to cash in at the local grocery store, the organization arranged for a refrigerated semi truck to be parked in front of the hospital during Thanksgiving week. Wearing freezer mitts and warm jackets, each member of the executive team personally participated by handing a frozen turkey to each employee. In return, to impress on staff the importance of gratitude, each employee was required to write down what he or she was thankful for before receiving a turkey.
Not only was this perceived as a cherished interaction and discussion between employee and executive during the distribution, but the activity was used as a tracking process to ensure that only one turkey was distributed per employee.
A tense moment occurred when a belligerent employee arrived at the table in front of the turkey truck. She wasn’t going to write down what she was thankful for and demanded her “damn” turkey. The CEO was covering that shift and graciously refused to give her a turkey, inviting her to head on home. She was stunned. And so were the rest who were gathered around. But the word quickly spread throughout the organization that this activity represented the season of gratitude and was not an entitlement.
To be sure, the CEO smiled and was kind, but the message was clear.
As a result, many employees who had previously avoided the Thanksgiving tradition requested that their free turkeys be donated to a local food bank. A table was set up and their turkeys were set aside with a note of gratitude from the food bank.