We have a new partner in crime! Or rather in happiness :o)

We’ve been emailing with Karl Staib for a while now, and we finally got a chance to meet him at the WorldBlu conference in New York in October ’08.

Here’s a short piece that Karl wrote to introduce himself. If you need a US-based speaker on happiness at work, Karl’s your man! Karl will also be guest blogging here over the next couple of weeks while I’m om vacation snowboarding in Whistler!!.

Karl of Work Happy Now

Alex asked me to introduce myself because I’ve been helping spread the work happiness message. I’ve learned a lot from talking to Alex and reading his book and blog. He introduced me to the concept of happiness at work and the importance of creating an atmosphere that encourages great work and fun at the same time.

My Working Woes

I’ve struggled with working happy at most of my jobs. It’s why I started Work Happy Now. I knew there was a better way to work instead of enduring the torture I had been through. I researched books, websites, and online video (before YouTube kicked in).

I found Alex’s site and was floored by the content. I literally fell back in my chair. There was a likeminded person who was actually making a difference within organizations! I got up out of my seat and did a little happy dance. I found my passion. I wanted to help people work happier. It wasn’t that quick and easy to find my passion, but just know that Alex lit the fuse.

Work Happy Now

So after years of research (business books, personal development books, interviews and my own internal discoveries) I created “Work Happy Now” over a year ago and have been going strong ever since.

I’ve committed to going out and helping people who struggle at work like I had done. Work happiness should be available to all of us. There are so many tools at our disposal. We are living in a golden age of work. Managers can’t just tell us to shut up and do our work. Well they can, but most managers take our feelings into account.

There are companies like Google, Southwest airlines, and Starbucks that are leading the employee revolution. They know that a happy employee will produce better results, stay at their job longer, and care about the success of the company.

According to Alex, and I agree, we need to focus on two main themes when trying to improve our working environment:

• Results

• Relationships

When we have a chance to accomplish great work and do it with people we like, our work becomes more enjoyable.

Alex has a brilliant quote in is his presentation:

“Each individual should work for himself. No one wants to sacrifice himself for the company. People come to work in the company to enjoy themselves.”

– Soichiro Honda

Companies can truly thrive when they can start caring about their employees’ emotional needs, and stop the faulty thinking that as long as they pay their employees they will work hard.

Giving Work Happiness Presentations

I will be giving work happiness presentations using Alex’s time tested techniques. I’ve made his presentation my own, changing a few things here and there, but never veering off from the core concepts.

If you are interested in hiring me to come to your company, please visit my “Hire Me” page and let me help your company improve its happiness and productivity.

Thanks to Alex

Alex has been a huge help in guiding me through the beginning phases of getting my speaking career off the ground. So if you want to hire me while I’m still a bargain, you should act now. My rates won’t stay low for very long.

For those of you who are not quite ready to bring me in to your organization, you can always check out Work Happy Now and sign up for email updates. That way you can stay updated on the latest ideas (my blog has a different twist than Alex’s blog) and improve your work happiness from additional angles.