Four things brilliant leaders do to maximise employee happiness
Last week was International Happiness at Work week and social media feeds were bursting with good news stories, hashtags galore and plenty of companies letting others know what they’re doing right.
We’re always up for celebrating the good stuff but as we glide into another week (with a new ‘day of / week of’ hashtag having its moment in the sun) what happens to happiness at work when the spotlight moves off it?
What’s happiness got to do with leadership?
If you’re working, you’re either leading, being led or often with a foot in both camps. So we’re asking how happy do you feel in your leadership role? How happy do you think the other leaders around you feel?
We come across so many leaders who might look happy on the outside but inside they’re really struggling with imposter syndrome, insecurity and unhappiness in their leadership role. But if no one’s told you about creating happiness for yourself as a leader, let alone others, well where do you start?
When we talk about leaders feeling happy we don’t mean a permanent nirvana-like bliss. We mean leaders who feel comfortable in their own skin, confident in who they are and capable in their leadership role. It’s only when this happens that leaders are able to create the conditions for their people to feel the same way. This is what Lead Happy™ is all about.
The 6 step Lead Happy™ formula
Watch our short video on the 6 steps that help leaders to lead confidently and happy, or if you prefer reading, the transcript is below.
Number 1
Smashing apart the leadership myth: Helping people to think about leadership in a completely new way
Number 2
Who you are: Who you are and how that determines the way you lead
Number 3
Who are they: Understanding our fellow humans
Number 4
Humanship: Focusing on our inner similarities as humans over our outer differences like role, identity or title
Number 5
Connection: The art of connection We are all born wired for connection and it’s an essential part of brilliant leadership
Number 6
Jestology™: Bringing story-sharing, facilitation and fun to how you lead
Head over to our YouTube channel for more lead happy™ content, where you can leave a comment and subscribe too.
This one question will change how you lead and live
Hands up, how many times when someone is talking to you are you waiting for them to finish so that you can immediately respond? Welcome to the way most conversations work...
Sometimes it’s just hard not to jump in on the last bit of what someone is saying as we are so keen to talk next - it feels like being in a queue and craning your neck to see when it’s your turn.
Added to this is small talk. These well-intended but often dull daily interactions, usually just lead us into an awkward dead-end. We ask the same questions, offer the same tried and tested ‘safe’ responses and feel like we are having the same conversation on repeat (we usually are!).
Whether it’s a lack of listening, too many opinions, or the same questions on autopilot, it’s easy to see why so many of our conversations end up feeling transactional or like we can’t shift it into another gear.
It doesn’t have to be this way!Read more