The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

My new book, Leading With Happiness, is out TODAY

November 21, 2017

Happy At Work, Leadership, Leading with Happiness Book

“Leading with happiness is compelling—it’s useful, well-researched, and downright fun to read.”
– Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author

My latest book, Leading with Happiness: How the Best Leaders Put Happiness First to Create Phenomenal Business Results and a Better World is out TODAY and I could not be more excited.

The book presents a simple but radical idea: The fundamental goal of any leader should be to increase happiness in the world. Leaders who don’t do that, are doing it wrong.

Drawing on lessons from psychology, neurobiology and philosophy, the book demonstrates why leaders should put happiness first – for themselves, their employees, their customers, and the wider world – and why happy leaders are more successful.

It’s been very well received already. Garry Ridge, the CEO of WD-40 Company, said “Every leader should read it. That type of leadership has been integral to our success and I know it will boost your results too.” Henry Stewart, the CEO of Happy said “This is a book that the world needs. It will move you. It will excite you. It will inspire you. And it could well change your life.”

The initial reviews on Amazon are VERY positive too:

You can read more about the book on its website at www.leadingwithhappiness.com and you can buy it on Amazon as a Kindle e-book or as a paperback.
11 new Woohoo Partners from 9 countries

November 20, 2017

Woohoo Partners

In 2015 we launched Woohoo Partners, an international network of consultancies and speakers who deliver services around happiness at work based on our tools and methods.

And the network is growing like crazy. In just the last 2 months, we have added 11 new international partners from Bahrain, Dubai, Australia, UK, USA, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Hong Kong. How absolutely AWESOME!

You can see the entire list of partners here. If you’re looking for a skilled speaker or consultant to come and make your organization happier and more successful, these are all amazing.

And if you’re thinking about building a business spreading happiness at work, you should consider joining as a partner – you can read all about it here.
The UN world happiness report: Happiness at work is crucial for individuals and companies

November 14, 2017

Happy At Work

The latest World Happiness Report, which ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, was released on 20 March 2017 by the United Nations. It is co-authored by Oxford Saïd’s Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, who has focused on happiness at work.

Here he explains the most important findings.
My new book “Leading With Happiness” comes out November 21

November 8, 2017

Happy At Work, Leadership, Leading with Happiness Book

It’s official – my next book, Leading With Happiness, comes out on November 21st.

Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author, calls it “Compelling, useful, well-researched, and downright fun to read.”

Preorders are already open for the Kindle e-book version – get it here. Paper books will become available on the publication date.
Read My Next Book Before Everyone Else and Completely FREE

October 26, 2017

Happy At Work, Leadership, Leading with Happiness Book

I am REALLY excited to announce that my next book “Leading With Happiness” comes out on November 21st. Read all about it here.

You are hereby cordially invited to read it completely FREE and before it goes on sale. The only thing we ask in return, is that you review it online when it is published. Click here to see how it works and sign up to The Early Reviewers Secret Club :) Access is limited to the first 500 people and you must sign up no later than November 2nd.

Sign up is closed.
The 30-hour workweek. Promising or pipe dream?

October 25, 2017

Happy At Work, Leadership, Overwork
There is currently huge interest in the 30-hour workweek in many workplaces . But is this just a pipe dream or could it actually lead to better results, happier workplaces and less stress?

In this video I talk to Lena Rübelmann and Juliana Wolfsberger who have written a masters thesis called “The 30-hour Workweek -A Promising Alternative for Knowledge Workers?” at Lund University School of Economics and Management about their findings. My favorite: Switching to a 30-hour workweek does not reduce output. People get as much work done as they did before, even though they work fewer hours.

If you want to know more, Juliana and Lena are happy to share their findings. You can reach them here:
- Juliana Wolfsberger
- Lena Rübelmann
Other companies are finding the same thing, including Toyota Center Gothenburg, who 12 years ago, went from a normal 40-hour work week to only working 30 hours a week – and found that employee happiness, productivity, customer satisfaction and profits all went up. At our2015 Happiness at Work Conference, CEO Martin Banck explains why they made that weird decision, how they did it in practice and what has happened since then:
Bertrand Russell on work

October 17, 2017

Happy At Work, Quotes

“Without self-respect genuine happiness is scarcely possible. And the man who is ashamed of his work can hardly achieve self-respect.”

– Bertrand Russell
The Cult of Overwork is Killing Startups

October 10, 2017

Best of site, Happy At Work, Leadership, Overwork
The New York Times has a great article called “In Silicon Valley, Working 9 to 5 Is for Losers” that examines workaholism in startups. It even quotes one entrepreneur as saying “I rarely get to see my kids. That’s a risk you have to take.” I wonder if he asked his kids if that was a risk they were willing to take.

The piece also quotes from this excellent article by David Heinemeier Hansson, where he points out that startup investors are the main driver of this culture:

There’s an ingrained mythology around startups that not only celebrates burn-out efforts, but damn well requires it.

It’s not hard to understand why such a mythology serves the interest of money men who spread their bets wide and only succeed when unicorns emerge.

There’s little to no consequence to them if the many fall by the wayside, spent to completion trying to hit that home run. Make me rich or die tryin’.
…
It’s bullshit. Extractive, counterproductive bullshit peddled by people who either need a narrative to explain their personal sacrifices and regrets or who are in a position to treat the lives and wellbeing of others like cannon fodder.

These two articles do a great job of exposing the toxic overwork culture in many startups but I just want to add five few quick points on the topic:

1: If hours are all that matter, an entrepreneur working 80 hours a week will be beaten by one working 90 hours a week. Where does it end?

2: Many of the mental qualities that make a startup successful are lost when people are overworked, tired, stressed and unhappy, including networking, creativity and effective decision making.

3: Permanent overwork kills people. For instance, those working a 55-hour week face 33% increased risk of stroke.

4: Permanent overwork doesn’t result in increased output.

5: Pointing to successful startups that worked 80 hours a week proves nothing. What about all the startups that worked 90 hours a week and failed?

Imagine starting your own company and ending up creating a workplace where you hate to work. How stupid is that?

On the other hand, employees of a startup where people are happy to work and have full lives outside of work, will be more productive, motivated and innovative, boosting the startup’s chance of success.

Even if working crazy long hours did enhance a startup’s chance of success (which it does not), it would still be wrong because it hurts employees physically and psychologically.

Related posts
- Always being busy kills productivity – and how to avoid it
- How to succeed in business if you’re not a morning person
Bertrand Russell on success

October 10, 2017

Happy At Work, Quotes

“I do not deny that the feeling of success makes it easier to enjoy life…. Nor do I deny that money, up to a certain point, is very capable of increasing happiness.

What I do maintain is that success can only be one ingredient in happiness, and is too dearly purchased if all the other ingredients have been sacrificed to obtain it.”

– Bertrand Russell
Today I did a speech on 50 minutes notice

October 6, 2017

Speaking

OK – that’s new. At 8:30 this morning I was in a café going through my tasks and emails, when I got a call from a client asking if I could do a speech for 100 people at their offices at 9:20 the same morning. The speaker they’d booked had called in sick.

To make matters even more interesting, I’ve already spoken to the same group last year, so I couldn’t just do our standard presentation. But who doesn’t love a challenge!

I started to put together some slides that fit their current situation then got on my bike and rode over. While their leaders presented I sat in the back of the room and finished my slides just in time.

And even if this is the least notice we’ve ever had, I do believe I rocked.