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Michelle McQuaid

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Are you Able to Embrace Chaos? Can You Deliver Happiness ? Is there a real business case for helping people to be happier at work?

Can You Deliver Happiness ?

Or is it just a dreamy aspiration? Or at best a passing fad? Research suggests that happier employees are more productive, engaged, and creative problem solvers. They have less sick days and are more likely to stay with your organization. So how does this work? “Happier employees equals happier customers, and equals a more sustainable and profitable business,“ said Jenn Lim the CEO of Delivering Happiness, a company co-founded with Tony Heisch from Zappos when I interviewed her recently. Jenn suggests that organizations in any industry can take steps to improve the happiness of their people and reap the benefits this provides. How can you achieve these kinds of results? A growing body of evidence suggests that tapping into the three basic psychological needs we all have – autonomy, connectedness, mastery – can lead to a more engaged and happier workforce. Does Your Organization Have A Trust Problem? - Positive Leadership.

What do you see when you look around your workplace?

Does Your Organization Have A Trust Problem? - Positive Leadership

Are there faces of boredom and disinterest, colleagues slouched over their work desks, talk of applying for other jobs, or lack of enthusiasm for the projects at hand? Wonder how to turn this around? Could engendering more trust hold the key? “Building trust can give you supercharged teams and multiply your business outcomes,” said Professor Paul Zak from Claremont Graduate University and author of Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies, when I interviewed him recently. “Trust is powerful because it captures what we really want whenever we work in a group – people who care about us and who we care about, and a sense of what we are doing is having an impact on the world.”

We are each wired to be social, so we’re treated and how we treat others at work can have an impact on our brains. Could compassion fuel your success? Can you lift your team's spirit? Do you get dragged down by other people’s negativity?

Can you lift your team's spirit?

Let’s face it, despite our best efforts of trying to stay positive, optimistic and enthusiastic it’s hard to stay upbeat and engaged when pessimists or cynics surround us. But how can you lift the spirits of others in your team? Emotions have been found to be highly contagious. When someone is in a strong good or bad mood studies suggest that you can actually catch it, and then pass it on to others. And just like the common cold, these emotions can then ripple throughout your workplace. So how can you ensure positivity and wellbeing ripples through your workplace?

“At Swisse we aim to create a team spirit that really celebrates life every day,” explained Elise Morris, Director of People and Culture at Swisse Wellness, who were recently recognized by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business as a global example of excellence for their Whole Person Wellness Program, when I interviewed her recently. She suggested trying to: Are You In Your Power Zone?

How often do you feel you’re hitting your power zone at work?

Are You In Your Power Zone?

You know those moments when you feel like you’re on fire – you’re doing work you find interesting, you’re developing your strengths and you’re learning and growing whilst delivering great results. We’ve all had these moments (even if they were fleeting) but can you intentionally create more of them and hit your power zone at work more often? “You step into your power zone when you’re aligning your all your strengths,” said Ryan Niemiec, the Education Director of the VIA Institute on Character, and leading author on Character Strengths, including his latest book Character Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners when I interviewed him recently.

“And using them for their optimal benefit in meeting the demands of your job and achieving what matters most to you.” “It’s your character strengths that act as the fuel to make your other strengths rise,” explained Ryan. Are You Mentally Fit Enough ? Feel like you can’t keep up with the pace of change in your workplace?

Are You Mentally Fit Enough ?

Wish you could slow it down, and the stress and conflict that often go along with it? With the pace of change in workplaces continuing to keep most of us on our toes it’s no wonder that many of us feel more stressed at work than ever before. So, can you expect to feel happy at work when you’re overwhelmed just trying to keep up? “You need to expect that stress and change are going to part of your workplaces,” explained Jennifer Moss, co-founder of Plasticity Labs and author of Unlocking Happiness at Work when I interviewed her recently. “Fortunately, happiness is not the absence of stress, it’s about finding ways to work through it faster, and to have difficult and challenging conversations inside the workplace that are healthy.”

Happier employees have gratitude, empathy and mindfulness, as well as the four psychological capital HERO traits – hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism. Podcasts.