Happy to be Here

You know this to be true.   You board the plane and the flight attendant who is responsible for your safety for the next four and a half hours looks as happy as a crustacean at Red Lobster - it's going to be a looooooooooong flight.   Or, the flight attendant looks like they are genuinely happy to see you - suddenly your life is easier and so is theirs.

Or how about the person behind the counter at the fast food place who looks really irritated because you are interrupting their ritual of wiping yesterday's ketchup off of trays vs. the person who greets you with a smile?

Or what about your boss - don't you feel better when you sense they are actually happy to see you and happy to be at work?

One of the things that we can do to make life easier, both for our teams and for ourselves, is so simple.     Be happy to be here.    As a leader, you set the tone not only for the workplace, but for your sense of ownership.    Isn't it better to be happy?     Doesn't it make work a better place to be?

Happiness is not sappy.  Happiness is a genuine, positive characteristic.   It doesn't mean you can' t be serious and it certainly doesn't mean that you aren't working hard.   In fact, some of the happiest people I know are, in fact, the hardest workers.

Happiness means you are bringing some of your best attributes to the workplace and actively sharing them with others.   Besides a positive demeanor, it a judicious degree of social sharing, the ability to laugh at foibles and bonding over both near-misses and terrific wins.

And here's the thing - if you have a happy workplace - your job has suddenly become so much easier.

Work hard. . .play hard. . .and be happy.

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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.