The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Author: Alexander

  • Leading with Happiness – my speech from the World Happiness Summit in Miami

    At the World Happiness Summit in Miami I gave a 15-minute speech on Leading with Happiness – the same topic I’m covering in my next book.

    In the video I share what’s wrong with traditional leadership and its relentless focus on business results and give some great examples of leader who create more happiness for themselves, their employees, their customers and the world.

  • I need your feedback on the back cover text for my new book

    This is the first draft I wrote for the back cover of my new book, Leading with Happiness. Do you like it? Would you read this book? Any suggestions?

    Here it is:

    What if there was more to leadership than maximizing business results, whatever it takes?

    Drawing on fascinating research from psychology, brain science and philosophy, this book will show you why leaders are more successful when they put happiness first – for themselves, for their employees, for their customers and for the wider world.

    Learn from some of the best and happiest leaders in business, arts, politics and the military, including:

    • The symphony conductor who knows that happy musicians play better music
    • The company founder who got much better results when he stopped being a jerk and started being happy
    • The industrial CEO who had to unlearn everything he’d been taught about leadership to create a happy and successful manufacturing giant
    • The nuclear submarine captain who stopped giving orders
    • The IT executive who brought his company out of a major crisis by focusing on his employees’ happiness

    Using these lessons, your leadership can become a force for good, creating better business results and a better world.

  • My new business card

    We had a photoshoot for our website. This one is going on my new business cards.

    Here’s another of my favorite shots:

  • See all the fascinating talks from our 2017 Conference on Happiness at Work

    We have now published all the amazing talks from our 2017 International Conference on Happiness at Work.

    You can watch every single talk from the event above or at this link.

    And if you think that looks awesome, join us in Copenhagen on May 17+18 2018 for the next conference. Sign up here to be notified when ticket sales start.

  • Download a free pdf poster with great quotes about happy leadership

    We have created a poster with inspiring quotes about leadership – you can download the pdf for free right here.

  • Enter for a chance to win the 2017 “Out of Office” World Championship

    Help us find the best out of office auto replies in the world!

    Do you have a really good, funny or creative auto reply for your e-mail when you’re off on Summer vacation? Or what is the best “Out of office” reply you have received this summer?

  • Everyone deserves a happy career. Here’s how to get it.

    Time and again, we see a bell-curve response to surveys on workplace happiness – 20% engaged and happy, 20% disengaged, 60% in the ‘so-so’ zone.

    Why don’t people pay a little more attention (and a whole lot more respect!) to their own happiness – and what happens when they do?

    In this hilarious talk from the 2017 International Conference on Happiness at Work in Copenhagen Irish career expert Rowan Manahan will show you how to use happiness at work as a career advantage. Because the science is clear: While success is no guarantee of happiness, people who love their jobs are more productive, innovative and motivated and ultimately more successful in their careers and in life.

  • Help me name my next book

    I need a great title for my next book on Leading with Happiness.

    The book explains why and how leaders should lead in a way that improves happiness for themselves, employees, customers and the world. Read more about it here.

    So far I’ve just been calling the book Leading with Happiness (and that kinda works) but maybe there’s a better, more eye catching and more fun title out there?

    As you know, business books tend to to have a title and a subtitle. Here are some titles I really like:

    • Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for your People like Family
    • The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized workplace and surviving one that isn’t
    • The Customer Comes Second: Put your People First and Watch’em Kick Butt
    • The Lazy Way to Success: How to do Nothing and Accomplish Everything

    The title itself is short and inspiring and the subtitle explains what the book is about.

    So please give me your best ideas for a book title in a comment below.

  • Why Ping-Pong Tables Wont Make Your Employees Happy – And What Will

    In this animated interview Olivier Larvoir and I talk about:

    • Which company recently installed a slide in the office to make it a ‘happier’ place to work (#facepalm)
    • Why your employees don’t want free coffee, ping pong tables and away days – and what they DO want
    • How to attract the best talent without writing a job ad or hiring a recruitment agency
    • What happiest places work all do that you can implement today (think: Google, Zappos, Southwest Airlines)
    • The one word most leaders are scared to say but is the key to better productivity (hint: it isn’t ‘motivation’)

  • Ben Zander on Leading with Happiness

    I interviewed the legendary conductor Ben Zander for my next book on Leading with Happiness and here is one of my favorite quotes of his:

    Doing well in the stock market, or satisfying the shareholders is a natural byproduct of an effective business. And what makes an effective business is the same thing that makes an effective orchestra: People who want to be there, who give everything they have, who are having a wonderful time doing it, whose eyes are shining, who are giving out energy to people around them.