Are you a happy leader? Find out how happiness can drive business productivity and growth

The question sounds so simple—are you happy? Many business leaders and professionals miss out on growth and development opportunities by not taking their own happiness into account. To discuss this further, we recently sat down with speaker Tia Graham, Founder of Arrive at Happy and author of “Be A Happy Leader: Stop Feeling Overwhelmed, Thrive Personally, and Achieve Killer Business Results.” Graham has worked with global companies like Four Seasons and her leadership expertise has been featured on CNN, Forbes, and The Los Angeles Times to name a few.

Sometimes it’s difficult to remain happy. Especially in light of the external circumstances around COVID-19 and the subsequent challenges we have been dealing with over the last couple of years. Tia Graham has devoted her career to studying the science behind happiness, but before she started her own business, she spent 14 years leading sales and marketing teams in the luxury hotel industry. Graham says she has always loved leading people and is also very passionate about growing businesses and driving revenue.

Graham started her company, Arrive at Happy, after having her second daughter and began researching positive psychology. Graham has multiple certifications in positive psychology, which is the science of happiness, neuroscience, leadership. She is also a certified Chief Happiness Officer for Happiness at Work. Happy employees make happy customers, and Graham strives to help fellow business leaders create really happy cultures for their employees and customers.

The science of happiness can support leaders by giving them proven research-based strategies and tools to increase their wellbeing, says Graham. These tools improve leaders’ personal lives, working lives, and create positive environments where their people can flourish. Graham adds that the science of happiness is proven and its research is coming from Ivy League schools. It shows that when leaders are happier, and when people are happier, they become more creative. They will sell more and they are more productive. In fact, happiness and wellbeing can drastically affect the bottom lines of the business.

It is vital for happy leaders to first take care of their own well-being so that they have enough to give to their teams. It will absolutely pay off for the business and it’s the right thing to do as you work with all different types of humans. One area leaders can give more attention to, is providing ongoing positive feedback. This is one way to try to experience happiness is to give everyone consistent, authentic, positive feedback. Create a culture of psychological safety as well. Psychological safety is where everyone feels comfortable speaking their mind, and giving feedback to the leader. A huge motivator for employees is progress and meaningful work. So, another way to increase people’s happiness is to let them know why their work really matters and how it’s helping society.

These strategies, and much more, are discussed in Graham’s latest book, “Be A Happy Leader: Stop Feeling Overwhelmed, Thrive Personally, and Achieve Killer Business Results, out tomorrow! Be a Happy Leader inspires readers to prioritize their happiness and create lasting career success by following its 8-step methodology. The biggest takeaways, says Graham, are inspiration and motivation. She wants readers to know that a lot of their happiness and their well-being at work, and in life, is based on their daily choices. That’s what the science of happiness shows. It’s not just your genetics. It’s not just what’s going on in your life. It’s based on choices. And there are so many choices you can make every single day to increase your wellbeing, which will make you more successful at work.

Did you enjoy this podcast with Tia Graham? Please share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding this topic by submitting a letter to the editor here, or connect with us at newsroom@cbtnews.com.