Fostering Happiness, Collaboration, and Purpose in the Workplace
We are not machines, nor are we robots. As humans, we are complex and multi-dimensional in our neurology, psychology, spirituality, and physicality, to name a few. As organisational leaders, leading a group of people is (I believe), one of the most complex parts of your role.
The thing is however, we can sometimes lose focus on the people over the product or outcomes. When deadlines are looming, work is piling up and the pressure is on, it can be more about the grind, than any purpose or meaning.
The question to ask yourself is “How often are your people in this mode? Is the ‘grind’ your normal?”
Research on workplace well-being clearly links happiness with raised levels of performance, collegiality, collaboration, and innovation.
In a massive study published in the Psychology Bulletin, a leading psychologist in the field of positive emotion, Sonja Lyubomirsky, at the University of California, along with colleagues, reviewed the results of over 200 separate studies involving 275,000 people from around the world. The research found that positive emotions lead to success, not only in our personal lives but also in business. Happy people spend twice as much time thinking about what they’ve accomplished, how achievable the task ahead is, and how capable they are of achieving it. The persistent frustration of not loving what you do makes you a difficult character to be around and has been clinically proven to damage your health. Positive emotions impact employee engagement, job satisfaction and performance, customer satisfaction, innovation, absenteeism, and turnover.¹
There are also different types of happiness. In psychology, there are two popular conceptions of happiness: hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic happiness is achieved through experiences of pleasure and enjoyment, such as a shared morning tea, appreciation, positive feedback, or even clearing your desk! Eudaimonic happiness is achieved through experiences of meaning and purpose (our why) e.g. when you understand how what you are doing contributes to the big picture, or you are connected with, and living out your values. Both kinds of happiness contribute to overall well-being in different ways. They also contribute to organisational culture, well-being, and ultimately outcomes.
As leaders, it is important to be purposeful in the development of wellbeing in your organisations. Your deliberate acts of leadership will set the tone and pathway for this development.
This requires leadership that moves from controlling employees to encouraging collaboration, and from top-down leadership to inspired conversations and shared goals. Moving customer focus, team development, employee engagement and Emotional Intelligence to centre-stage, and as a result, building thriving, happy organisations.
So, what are some small steps you can take towards creating happiness capital within your organisation?
Grow your own emotional capital. Check your own leadership motivations and emotional intelligence capabilities and determine whether there is alignment between your espoused and practised leadership.
Seek first to understand. Value asking a question over telling. Find out what makes people tick, their values and aspirations and support them to achieve these through a series of mini goals.
Move from a mode of seeking ‘buy-in’ to a mindset of engagement and collaboration. Utilising methodologies such as human-centred design ensures a structured approach to the complexities of gaining multiple perspectives.
Use a blended approach: hedonist and eudaimonic to create opportunities for people to experience happiness and a sense of achievement at work.
Join the dots… connect people with the “Why”, not just at a head level, but at a heart and gut level where they not only believe in it but are being it.
¹ Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., and Diener, E. (2005), ‘The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does Happiness lead to success?’ Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.