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Leading With Happiness in Kuwait
I just returned from speaking at The Happiness Effect conference in Kuwait. I was blown away by the whole event and especially by the organizers from Algas Events who were very organized and incredibly generous and hospitable.
The highlight for me was to reconnect with my friends Maja Neducic and Louise Lambert and see them shine on stage. Louise updated everyone on the latest research on happiness at work and Maja talked about the amazing culture at Vega It.
I love how much of a focus there is on happiness at work in the region and I hope my talks gave the participating organizations some ideas for how to take it even further.
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How you handle a bad boss before it’s too late
How do you handle a bad boss at work before they mess you up too much?
I JUST NOW published a video that takes a deep dive on the science, history and philosophy on bad bosses.
You can really help me if you watch it, like it and especially if you write a comment :)
And here are all the links and source from the video:
- How to deal with a bad boss | The Chief Happiness Officer Blog
- Bad bosses – why they’re bad and what to do about them
- When your boss saves your job | The Chief Happiness Officer Blog
- The Neurobiology of Moral Behavior: Review and Neuropsychiatric Implications – PMC
- The Last Dance | Michael Jordan, the tough guy
- Bad bosses – why they’re bad and what to do about them
- Jewish Chutzpah’s Ancient Precedent: Commoner Sues Toxic Boss 2600 Years Ago – Aish.com
- The First Labor Strike in History
- Managerial leadership and ischaemic heart disease among employees: the Swedish WOLF study
- How Power Makes People Selfish
- Hofstede Insights
- Why Being Rich Might Make You a Jerk – presented by University of California and SlateCustom
- Is Stockholm syndrome a myth? The terrifying crime behind psychology’s most famous — and dubious — term – ABC News
- (PDF) ‘Stockholm syndrome’: Psychiatric diagnosis or urban myth?
- “Stockholm Syndrome” was invented by police to discredit a female hostage
- Can You Make a Sociopath—Either Through Brain Injury or Other Types of Trauma? – Scientific American
- Yes, lead poisoning could really be a cause of violent crime | George Monbiot | The Guardian
- Magnus Carlsen: ‘I just enjoy the game so much. I don’t see one reason to quit.’ — Bruvschess
- Psychopathic traits in adulthood up with child lead exposure
- Life and death in Apple’s forbidden city
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Free Online Talk: Why Perks Don’t Work
How do you create a happy workplace?
For too many workplaces, the answer to that question begins and ends with perks. The list of possible perks that I have seen workplaces offer is nearly endless with things like gyms, massages, snacks, team events, nap pods, pizza parties, team building events, discount deals and yoga classes.
These things can cost a lot of money and take a lot of time to organize so it really is a shame that they do not work. At all!
In fact, when companies get them wrong, they often backfire and make employees less happy and motivated.
In this free webinar I talked about:
- Why most perks are doomed to fail from the outset
- How perks sometimes backfire and make things worse
- Why companies are so focused on them even though they don’t work
- How to tell if your workplace’s perks are worth it
- How to design perks that actually impact employees positively
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Yikes!
Yikes! Check out this comment on one of my videos:
I just had a psychotic adult babyman scream directly into my face because I refused to give him a discount on an item that was already marked 75% off. I asked Karen to leave the store and of course he refused and asked to speak to the manager (even though I am a manager), so I called security and went on a break to cool down.
Anyway, I was sitting in my car and I see this imbecile leaving with his prize. The strange thing was that the security person was walking with him and then shook his hand before they parted ways. In the end Karen got what he wanted and now knows he can come back anytime and abuse more employees without any repercussions.
Perhaps I could organize a strike, or maybe just cut my losses and get as far away from the service industry as possible. Whatever the case may be, I do know one thing for certain: Whoever is responsible for that “The Customer is Always Right” pearl of wisdom should really rethink their sanity.
Let me just say that again: Yikes! It’s a betrayal of the employees to always give in to the customers who abuse them the most.
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I’m in the New York Times
I was interviewed for this excellent article in the New York Times about why measuring employee happiness is very important but also very difficult.
Here’s the central quote:
So, where’s the disconnect? Are surveys the wrong tool? Are employees not telling their managers the truth about their dissatisfactions? Or are the bosses not listening?
The answer is a little of all of the above, said Alexander Kjerulf, co-founder of Heartcount, which creates software designed to measure employee happiness. “The traditional approach has become a rote exercise that’s done because everyone does it,” Mr. Kjerulf. “But few people actually see any value in it — and that goes both for employees and management.”
He noted that the surveys too often are too long and conducted too infrequently. Employees worry they will face retribution for negative responses, and companies don’t act on the feedback they receive.
That’s the problem in a nutshell – companies typically measure the wrong things and then make everything worse by not acting on the data employees supply.
That is why we created Heartcount, which is the best tool for measuring how happy employees are at work.
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March 31 is International Quit Your Crappy Job Day
A bad job hurts your health, your career and your family. So we created a website with information and resources you can use to find out if it’s time to quit.
You can also test yourself and see if it’s time to quit – over 16,000 people have taken the test already!
If you’re unhappy at work check it out. If someone you care about is stuck in a crappy job, share this with them.
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Elon Musks Biggest Flaw That Is Killing Twitter
Things have gone from bad to worse at twitter since Elon Musk bought the company three months ago. The problem is Elon. Some recent events have revealed Musk’s MOST fundamental flaw as a leader.
In this video I want to talk about what that flaw is and how other business leaders can avoid making the same mistakes.
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We NEED to break Americas addiction to layoffs!
US companies LOVE layoffs – which is a shame because they hurt not only employees but also the company’s results – according to the research.
See why layoffs are so bad and how to avoid them – because they’re not inevitable!
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Americans die younger, so US companies make billions
Sometimes you put on your tinfoil hat… and turn out to be right.
Something so insane came along today that I just had to drop everything else and make this video. I give a little glimpse of how bad the US pension system is because it directly incentivizes companies when their employees die younger. I contrast and compare with the Danish pension system.
You can also watch my original video about the cult of overwork.
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Does Musks twitter chaos hide a shady secret?
Musk first 3 weeks at twitter have been characterized by chaos and cruelty all around. But why? What purpose does the senseless abuse serve?
In this video I argue that the only way it makes sense, is if Musk is trying to turn twitter into a compliant organization that will go along with anything Musk orders, no matter how shady or illegal.
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