Miserable leaders spread misery everywhere they go. Enjoy leading or get out of leadership.
Stop spreading misery. Decide to enjoy leadership.
You won’t enjoy every aspect of leadership but choose happiness every chance you get. If patients and operating staff can dance before surgery, you can smile once in a while.
Reject the imagined connection between important and somber. Some leaders walk around like they were weened on pickles and bathed in vinegar. News Flash! It’s OK to laugh.
Unhappy leaders have unhappy teams.
Show interest in people with a smile on your face. Everything isn’t heart surgery.
Have fun before doing serious work. You won’t enjoy tough conversations. Write a few thank you notes before you terminate an employee.
Don’t let serious work be the reason you’re serious all the time.
Reconnect with purpose. Everything isn’t fun, but purpose is the reason you do difficult work. Purpose doesn’t make hard work easy; it provides persistence. Find a good reason to do hard things or leading will be misery.
Reject the notion that enjoyment and frivolous need to be the same thing.
Let someone care for you. Find a friend outside your organization. Don’t lead alone.
Express gratitude. Force yourself to notice something good. Stop waiting for perfection to express gratitude and affirmation.
You want your team to enjoy work, but you don’t. Hypocrites expect something from others that they don’t do themselves.
Self-assessment: Would your team be surprised if you smiled or laughed during a meeting? If the answer is yes, you’re a downer. Stop spreading misery.
What if your team is happy in spite of you, not because of you?
How might leaders stop spreading misery?
