Is happiness a 'job' for the CEO? Conversation with a mindful CEO
Is happiness a 'job' for the CEO?
After 20 years in leadership and positive psychology, I would say a resounding "YES!"
My first job out of college was a Happiness Coordinator on a Trading Floor. The culture and general atmosphere was gloom and doom. People yelled across the room, slammed bats on the tables, and someone quit every day. This was going on for many months.
In my interview, when I said, "I am good at making people happy at work."
The response was, "We need you! Can you start tomorrow?"
A few years went by and I learned two major lessons:
1) The group grew 4 times, made 4 times the amount of money and no one quit; happiness makes a positive difference.
2) Leadership is the key for a positive culture; leaders must take accountability for creating a positive atmosphere.
Since 2003, I have coached many CEOs, entrepreneurs and leaders in their positive leadership.
A lot of times, leaders think to themselves,
"I am happy. How come everyone isn't like me?"
"How can happiness benefit my company?"
Or...
Leaders are hitting rock bottom and their ship is sinking. They need help and will do anything. Other leaders see the importance of caring about employee well-being yet are unsure how to go about how to ensure a positive culture or being positive themselves.
Harvard research in 2008 has shown happiness spreads up to three degrees so the leader's happiness in any organization is crucial!
Happiness science is so incredible we can actually teach systematic happiness increase.
A happy workforce positively impacts turnover, morale, innovation, teamwork, productivity, customer service, and sales; in addition to healthcare costs decreasing and greater ethical decisions are made.
One CEO and Founder has already been convinced his well-being is crucial for the overall wellness of his company and his decision making. (This usually happens after a leader has a breakdown and is ready to do whatever it takes to get back on track.)
He has been a martial artist since his youth and has recently been doing transcendental meditation for the last 2 years. His mental acuity has become a paramount asset. Here is a snippet of a conversation:
CEO: I am already happy, I would describe myself as a happy person. My family, therapist and even a psychic told me I am already happy.
ANSWER: You are attempting to convince me, yourself and your loved ones you are happy. You can always have longer bouts of positive mood, faster resiliency, deeper contentment and states of bliss.
CEO: I already experience bliss in my meditations: 40 min a day, 20 min in the morning and 20 min at night.
ANSWER: I can help you expand the results of your 40 minutes of meditative bookends into infinite bliss in the present moment 24/7 for the rest of your life.
CEO: I am in! AND I am all about it!
Sometimes things are so obvious to some yet so foreign to someone else.
Happiness sometimes gets overlooked like the concept of breathing or walking yet it is when there is an absence of happiness that organizations or CEOs start looking into it.
Perhaps I can inspire the leader in you to stop thinking happiness is invisible, unimportant, nonessential, or woo woo. So you can make a proactive positive performance enhancement opposed to looking back for a 'coulda shoulda woulda' when things get bad.
Happiness science offers a proactive positive performance boost in all areas from the psychology of the CEO to high performance teams to an entire organizational culture.
We offer a strategic happiness increase formula.