Why are leaders afraid to speak at work about happiness?

The MIT Sloan School of Management will interview me next week to explore my work in happiness and leadership and share what I’ve learned with the MIT community and beyond. One of the pre-submitted questions I’ve been pondering is: “Why are leaders afraid to speak about happiness at work?”

Just look at the stats

This question forced me to step back and think, as those companies that have little interest in exploring happiness are not the ones knocking on my door. Those who are afraid might not know that the American Psychological Association’s 2022 Work and Well-Being Study found that 81% of individuals say they will look for workplaces that support mental health when they seek jobs.

Or that a 2022 Harris Poll reports that 94% of U.S. workers experience chronic stress at work.?

Chronic stress is eroding personal health as well as the health of businesses leading to diminished productivity, higher error rates, and increased turnover. The current stress level experienced by Americans is 20% higher than the global average.

Can on-site counseling increase collaboration?

Many employers are now offering subscriptions to online therapy site Talkspace or the meditation app Headspace. HR leaders say that the next step could be to offer on-site counseling with therapists or coaches to discuss work related and personal issues.?In addition to the direct benefits, this could lead to a bigger goal, of diminishing the stigma surrounding mental illness and therapy.

When Dr. Roopal Pujara Lalaji, a clinical psychologist, served as an on-site therapist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,?she observed an interesting phenomena. “Whenever I noticed clients knew each other in the waiting room, I sensed greater camaraderie than shame.”?Could it be that “coming out” to your team about mental health challenges can create more collaboration at work?

I’ve been touched by the number of friends and former colleagues as well as people I have never met, who have reached out to express gratitude for my “coming out” about my severe depressive episode just over a year ago. They tell me my writing and speaking openly about my challenges helps normalize their own challenges as well as those of others.

Why then are so many fearful of sharing with their bosses?

They think it will hurt their reputation at work.?They think they’ll be looked upon differently if their mental health condition is found out.

Positive Psychology, the science of happiness: Only 25 Years Young

On the flipside, happiness is also a misunderstood construct. Those who dismiss or even worse, make fun of positive psychology do not understand it or know the statistics.?If they did, they would embrace it. In a way it makes sense, as positive psychology, as a field of study, did not exist when many leaders were in school. Marty Seligman, the President of the American Psychological Association and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the father of “flow,” only came together to begin the field?in 1998.

While many older leaders are unfamiliar and skeptical, many younger leaders know it and embrace it. ?

Data is telling:

• Mental health is a growing concern of companies. Two-thirds of employees report mental health as a top challenge. 80% of executives report mental health issues. Happiness is elusive to many today.
• And yet, success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. To be a successful leader, you need to understand happiness and nurture it – yours and others.
• Happy employees yield higher productivity and better results: stay in their jobs 4x longer, are 12% more productive, commit 2x more time to tasks, and have 65% more energy.

Fundraisers & Scholarships

Wharton professor of organizational psychology, Adam Grant, has spent his life’s work researching how people work and what motivates them and the pursuit of personal and professional happiness. One of his favorite research studies is one where he randomly assigned callers doing university fundraising to meet one scholarship student who benefited from their work.?Afterward, the average caller spiked 142% in weekly minutes on the phone, and 171% in weekly revenue.?Grant found it staggering that meeting one person helped by your work for five minutes was enough to almost double your effort and productivity. It’s no wonder that health and human service non profit leaders often bring patients or clients they’ve served to their board meetings to inspire their directors to give of their time, talent, and treasure.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals the key to happiness

This validates a key tenet of the work of Arthur Brooks, professor of Happiness & Leadership at Harvard Business School, that having meaningful work is part of the formula for happiness with the other components being faith, family, and friends.?

Begun in 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development is the longest longitudinal study on human flourishing.?Now led by Robert Waldinger, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and co-author of The Good Life, he boils the findings down to meaningful relationships, those with close family and friends, as being the most important determinant of happiness.

While success itself is not inherently bad, Dr. Waldinger, adds “Just don’t expect it to make you happy.”?Wins that foster deep relationships and are imbued with meaning (hence, the fundraiser data), are what makes happiness last. He shares that when octogenarians were asked what they were most proud of, many state being “a good leader or a helpful mentor.”

I’d love for you to join me next Wednesday, March 15, at noon ET to learn more about Happiness & Leadership - you’ll have a chance to ask your questions too: register here.

About Grace Ueng

Grace is CEO of Savvy Growth, a leadership coaching and management consultancy founded in 2003. Her great passion to help leaders and the companies they run achieve their fullest potential combined with her empathy and ability to help leaders figure out their “why” are what clients value most.?A specialty is conducting 360s in order to help leaders become more self aware and uncover their blind spots.

Companies hire her firm for leadership coaching and strategy consulting as well as to?facilitate HappinessWorks? programs, infusing the happiness advantage into corporate culture, leading to higher productivity and results. ?

A marketing strategist, Grace held leadership roles at five high growth technology ventures that successfully exited through acquisition or IPO. She started her career at Bain & Company and then worked in brand management at Clorox and General Mills. She earned her undergraduate degree from MIT and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Grace and her partner, Rich Chleboski, accomplished cleantech veteran, develop and implement strategies to support the growth of impact-focused companies and then coach their leaders in carrying out their strategic plans. Their expertise spans all phases of the business from evaluation through growth and liquidity.?