Last week I attended a local chapter meeting of the ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) and had a very interesting conversation with a V.P. of Training of a local company. She was telling me how her company is discussing how to prevent talent (the employees) from leaving in large numbers as the economy starts to pick up. At least anecdotally, I’m hearing some anxiety about how much more employees will tolerate and what it will take for them to stay.

Is there anything to this worry?

There is a lot of data out there from Price Waterhouse Cooper, CLC Human Resources and Gallup about how employees are not happy campers in their organizations. Whether it has to do with being underemployed or a  high potential employee, there seem to be people who are checking out the job market and seeing if it’s the right time to jump ship. With economists forecasting that the US economy will improve, there may be turbulence in many companies as people seek new positions that fit their wants and needs more. However, it is also true that, globally, economic forecasts are not as rosy. It is possible that there may be pockets of employees ditching their jobs for greener pastures depending on the local economy.

Benefits matter

At least in the US, the rising costs with health benefits has certainly cause some unhappiness according to Gallup. That pesky work-life relationship rears its head in this category. People need to know that they will be treated with respect with how much out-of-pocket expenses they are responsible for. Benefits like vacation time and retirement plans matter as does how much on-the-job stress employees must put up with.

Leadership disconnected

If you visit Glassdoor.com, you can read reviews of what it’s like to work for specific companies. Sadly, you see a lot of complaints that work schedules are too taxing and that management is too caught up in the bureaucracy of the company. Sure, it’s easy to pick on large corporations which have behemoth bureaucracies. However, this can happen in small to mid-sized companies as well. For some organizations, there is a clash between “old” business practices and “new” practices. When the organizational leadership takes pride in not understanding social networking or using cloud computing or telecommuting, workers feel like they’re being treated as tools and not people. There are many trends that are emerging that are challenging leaders in organizations of all sizes (check out those mentioned in the  Hay Group Leadership 2030 research). Not paying attention to research, avoiding self-development and ignoring opportunities to involve employees in planning is tantamount to saying, ” go ahead and leave, we don’t need you.”

What else matters?

According to a recent OfficeTeam survey, 27% of workers reported that having opportunities to learn and grow encouraged engagement. While ASTD reports an upswing in how training is funded and used in organizations, this is still an category that gets cut when the economic environment is inhospitable. However, even in global trend research, training and development played a role in employee engagement.

However, it isn’t simply reducing one’s skills gap that engaged employees. The ability to further one’s career within the organization was a key piece. This is where organizations can lose their high potential employees. If you can’t move out of your position, then logically, it would make sense to go somewhere else to achieve your career and life goals.

Current trends are showing a downward direction in people leaving their organizations

There is still an immense challenge that organizations of all sizes face in making sure they keep employee engagement high. It’s more than a paycheck that workers desire. This is good news for  businesses with more limited resources. Dan Pink, in his book, Drive, focused on purpose, meaning and autonomy. At the end of the day, your employees want to be treated as grown ups with perspectives and skills that are necessary to your organization’s success.

What do you believe turns people off the most?

What trends do you believe decision-makers need to pay attention to the most?

*Join us in the this discussion on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on Friday, January 27, 2012 at 5pm GMT/12pm ET/9am PT . We’d love to have your observations and opinions!

Business owners and decision-makers are used to reading financial reports to analyze the performance of their businesses. So, with all of the advice that businesses should be involved with social media, it seems logical to want to measure how it works. But what do you measure? And do these measurements mean anything?

So, if social media is about relationships, then…

You can say you’re using social media for marketing, customer relations or what have you. But you are really having a lot of conversations with a variety of people. So you spend time blogging, chatting with people on Twitter, posting interesting things on Facebook or answering questions on LinkedIn. You build up relationships but there must be some sort of purpose.

Is it about influence or sales?

In a lot of ways, using social media is a big experiment. There are those who try to game social media by finding certain keywords that attract people. So people will write posts about, say, Steve Jobs so you look at them.  And others use lists that increase the numbers of followers. It doesn’t appear that this is truly about influence so it’s got to be about money.

For the rest of us, it becomes more of a question if you’re seeking to be a thought leader or an expert in your field who shares valuable information. Either way, you are building trust with your friends, followers and fans. The people who tweet or post for you communicate your brand and people make associations with this.

What kinds of tools show that people trust you?

There are loads of tools! It’s mind-boggling, to be honest. Here are 10 that are interesting:

• HootSuite
• Klout (check out this clear explanation from Amanda Webb)
• PeerIndex
• Awe.sm (hat tip to Ivan Walsh for sharing that one)
• Digg
• Bit.ly
• Hubspot
• Kontagent (one of their specialties is the mobile web)
• Trendrr
• Even Google Analytics has a tool for social media (thank you to Krishna De for the heads up)

And there are even more tools not even named here. But…

What’s the point?

There are more than enough tools to measure whatever you want. You could monitor:

• The frequency that your posts are shared
• The methods used to share your posts
• The number of friends, followers or fans
• Your ability to reach beyond just your friends, followers or fans
• All of the above

However, it all comes down to defining the purpose of your monitoring. The reasons you are using social media are your benchmarks for the  monitoring. It seems very clear that there is a lot to learn to make these tools useful to you. Identifying which tool (or tools) will serve your purpose triggers the question, “are these numbers meaningful?” Getting usable information that lead to goals in your business plan is paramount.

What are the most important things to look for when you’re monitoring social media?

Why is this information important?

When would you ignore data from your social media monitoring tool?

How would you describe the ROI of social media?

*Please join us on the Twitter chat on Friday, November 18th at 12pm ET/5pm GMT/9am PT to discuss “Social Media Analytics: Useless or Meaningful”

While I was doing my graduate degree, I worked at a jewelry counter. During the sales training, they explained that many customers could appear rough around the edges and not well dressed. They emphasized that the most unlikely people could be the big spenders. The organization training me was based in the the middle of the country so they spoke about farmers and factory workers. The community I lived and worked in included old time New England types, immigrants from India, Central America, Russia and transplants from other US states.  Unfortunately, the trainers didn’t explain how we were to make a connection with these particular customers so we were left to our devices.

Smiling seemed a natural way to start building rapport. It was fun to hear the back story and look for an everyday watch or that perfect set of earrings with my customers. Creating these mini-relationships seemed logical to me and it certainly was a positive strategy as I was a top commission earner in the department.

We’re all in customer service

No matter if you’re selling jewelry, consultancy services or smartphone apps, we are all customer service representatives. Tom Asacker has written extensively about how everyone in an organization communicates the brand. This exhibits the authenticity of an organization.  We have so many potential moments to connect with another person when we speak with prospects, colleagues and other professionals. Some, if not all of these moments could have you smiling at another human being. Jeff Toister has a great post of what happens when you leave the smile out, even over the phone. We are all points of reference for people outside of our organizations.

So all I need to do is smile, right?

Partly, yes. Are you seeking to engage with the other person and why? Answering this question reverts you back to your organization’s executive summary. Yes, seriously. It’s about the organization’s values. Are you smiling at this person because they are a revenue source or something else? Is it inauthentic on your part to want to make the sale?

Authentic customer service is more than a smile

The current messages about authenticity state that people are seeking “real” people to do business with. We’re told how to write content, biographic profiles and frame sales pitches so they build relationships. There is nothing inherently wrong with these messages. But we might be creating something that doesn’t exist in business. Perhaps we’re faking authenticity the way we fake our smiles. The face moves but we’re left feeling like something is off base. (Want to see if you can spot fake or genuine smiles? Take this test on this BBC site.)

Tom Asacker writes, “engagement is the first step in an evolving process that ultimately leads to belief, adoption and support of the organizations’ brands.” Feelings prompt purchases. This is true whether you’re selling business to business (B2B) or to consumers. The way you make me feel is what prompts me to want to do business with you. And…how you make me feel, particularly during a conflict, prompts me to want to continue doing business with you.

Conflict is the greatest test of authentic customer service

At some point, you will have a clash with someone over your product, service, ideas or price. Smiling may not be literally the most appropriate response to a situation but bear with me for a moment. Your value system includes how you want to be treated by others. This is the human element that is a potential chaotic agent. When someone approaches us with a complaint, it is natural to feel defensive and attacked. This complaining person has attacked our value system. Chaos is introduced when we forget how we want to treat others.

A real smile may be worth a lot of money…or not

The current emphasis on being authentic may be a trend and not significant in the long term. On the other hand, there is a lot of energy in conversations about making work meaningful and more human-centered. As we interact with customers, prospects and other professionals, we are the snapshot of our organization. A real smile could be an invitation and gift embedded in your authentic customer service.

Beyond the  current vogue definition of “authenticity”, how would you honestly describe it?

How do you train customer service representatives to naturally exhibit organizational authenticity?

What are our choices really saying when we fail to treat our clients/customers as if they matter?

If businesses are ultimately about making money, could authenticity be irrelevant?Why or why not?

*Consider yourself invited to join us as we talk about customer service & authentic connection “Is a Smile Too Much?”” on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on Friday, October 14th at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT so I hope you can join us. If not, please add your thoughts below.

*Join us for this topic on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog. We’ll start the discussion on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 5pm BST/12pm ET/9am PT or add your comment below.

Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting a business planning workshop to small business owners. While talking about  living business plans , I urged the participants to identify what needs to be eliminated. We don’t talk enough about how to let go of the parts of our businesses that are half-alive. And quitting? Forget about it!

For the sake of this conversation, I’m going to use the word, quitting. It’s a word with so many negative nuances. Without critical thinking, we accept these nuances without knowing if they are true to our experience.

What’s not working as well as you would like?

When you set your business goals for 2011, you had certain things you wanted to achieve by December 31, 2011. There were positive results to celebrate. But what produces lackluster results?

• Holding onto a product or a service that very few purchase
• The marketing plan didn’t produce the expected results
• People just didn’t want what we offered
• You fell in love with your product or service and didn’t allow for adaptation or iterations of your product or service

Could you let go of something you loved developing?

Some of what we offer to our customers means more to us than simply a revenue source. Maybe all is good for awhile and then you’re doing your quarterly review. You notice  it’s not moving the way you expected. After a couple more quarterly reviews, you’re seeing a downward trend.

By letting go, it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go.

But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning. -Lao Tzu

When letting go becomes quitting…

There’s an interesting behavior among entrepreneurial business owners. When someone decides to close their business and return to working for someone else, entrepreneurial colleagues often respond with suggestions to keep the business on the side or urge him/her simply to not quit. Failure still seems to be taboo, for all those who claim that this gives you some kind of street cred.

Imagine quitting isn’t failure.

Of science and the human heart

There is no limit.

There is no failure here, sweetheart

Just when you quit

-“Miracle Drug”, U2

That’s the premise of the Freakonomics podcast, “The Upside of Quitting”. They state that there is a fallacy of weighing sunk costs. This concept is that we’ve sunk too much of our time, money, and/or energy and we can’t leave without getting something back for our efforts. One of the people interviewed for this podcast is Justin Humphries, a former baseball player, who now assists baseball players outside of Major League Baseball decide when it’s time to quit playing. Many baseball players who are at the end of their career struggle with accepting that they aren’t good enough or too old. Part of this seems to stem from lacking a broader sense of identity. Instead of seeing how they might transfer their skills to another part of baseball or find another career entirely, many players keep playing baseball.

Knowing when to ” shut it down”.

Stephen Dubner captured underlying belief for these baseball players, “Wow, that’s particularly poignant in my view… because baseball’s one of those rare sports that because it doesn’t have a clock, no game is ever out of reach…You could be behind a thousand runs in the bottom of the ninth and theoretically you can still come back and win. So that’s part of the ethic of baseball is never, never, never, never quit. Quitting is  not an option.”

The dissonance between “science and the human heart”

Entrepreneurs and business owners are often like these baseball players. With the recent severe recession and snail-like recovery, many startups and businesses are at a decision point. There are glimmers that things are just beginning to ease up and it’s exhausting trying to keep things afloat. And yet, quitting may not be seen as one choice.

As entrepreneurs and business owners, we derive much of our identity and a sense of competency from our business. We see the financial reports spelling out the science of our business. But, in our hearts, the challenges evoke emotions of grief, helplessness and powerlessness. We’ve put too much in to close the doors. We’re given so many messages that shames us out of quitting. And yet, quitting may turn out to be the best decision we could ever make for ourselves and our businesses. As it is urged by the “The Upside of Quitting”, imagine “there is no failure here.”

Setting goals for 2012

No one would ever say that letting go or quitting are easy or even pleasant experiences. Nonetheless, it is essential to identify any deadweight or mediocre performers. These could be things (or, ouch, people) you are fond of or just have out of habit and these are compromising your business vision. There is an intersection between deciding to let go or quit and your business goals. Aligning your metrics and your heart is an essential task when setting business goals.

What messages do we hear when we’re at the decision point to let go/quit/continue?

How are these messages helpful or  harmful?

How do you let go of a product/service in your business that’s not performing well?

How can “science and the human heart” become resonant with choice to quit?

As you plan your business goals for 2012, how could letting go or quitting assist planning?

*Join us for this topic on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog. We’ll start the discussion on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 5pm BST/12pm ET/9am PT or add your comment below.

The recent economic turmoil has triggered a lot of change for many of us. Whether you are seeking the change or it has been imposed on you, it is important to know how to handle any fear that accompanies your change process.

Read more about Do What Scares You…

Have you ever really stopped to think about capitalism? How do you define it? Some definitions are more loaded than others if you look at the various links in this Google search However, if you own or lead a business, you are definitely participating in this system.

Describing the system to ourselves

There are so many words to describe the way we think about capitalism. There are variations on how capitalism is expressed if you start looking at how some corporate entities are state-owned to the mixed economy type.There are advocates for free markets, laissez-faire or free enterprise as if they are infallible. Other people raise questions about how money is distributed, how workers are treated by their employers or the potential for creating instability. No matter where you fall philosophically, the flaws in the system brought a great deal of havoc in 2008 and we’re still dealing with the consequences.

The flaws are the issue.

There are fierce debates in many countries about how to regulate this system. Certainly one of the most famous critique of capitalism is Das Kapital by Karl Marx. When we are faced with troubled companies that are “too big to fail” and they can harm a national or even global economy, something is amiss. It’s easy to blame the elite rich or labor unions or whomever is your target but at the end of the day, we’re still participating in this system.  There are ethical questions about what happens to the widening gap between each economic class, unemployment and consumerism. How do we talk about the flaws of capitalism?

The process of redefining capitalism

Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say it’s a process of redesigning capitalism. One movement has been sustainability. While it is often associated with green technology and environmentalism, sustainability also includes developing business models that can respond well to stressors and successes. Even in Nouriel Roubini’s post, “Is Capitalism Doomed?” the question lies in how we think about people and what makes them productive more than exploiting markets. There is also more expressed desires for a flexible work-life balance and work that has meaning and purpose. Where does this fit in?

Join the conversation.

It behooves us to not ask ourselves what we believe about capitalism and how we want to create businesses that are sustainable. This is the business climate we’re in and the turbulence isn’t going away in a hurry. We can choose to continue supporting current practices, foster a revitalized system or eliminate capitalism as we know it altogether. It may not be a clear answer but your answer is part of conversation.

In the next #kaizenblog (Twitter chat) on Friday, September 9th at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT we’re discussing this topic. Please join us and add your thoughts and expertise. If you can’t join in on Twitter, please add your comments below.

Which aspects of capitalism are still relevant to the current economic climate?

What trends are you noticing in discussions about capitalism?

What is changing on a micro-level (within your business community) that is sustainable?

This is our topic for this week’s #kaizenblog, a weekly Twitter chat that uses the concept of kaizen to critically think about various aspects of business, enhance our skills and deepen our self-understanding. You can join this conversation every Friday at 12pm Eastern.

Do you think you know right from wrong? Are you consistent every time? We’d all like to think so. However, recent research on self-discipline and decision fatigue makes one wonder if there may be a slippery slope we didn’t take into account. It’s easy to identify corporate scandals that involve blatant greed and social pressure. But are there smaller moments when ethics are placed aside?

Everyday temptations

• Conflicts of interest are probably the most common situations any of us encounter. Competing loyalties and desires can make us squirm. Sometimes we want to please someone. Sometimes we are in an uneven power dynamic and feel we must comply. Maybe we’re in a culture that is foreign or opposed to what we believe.
• The weight of our values change. Over time, how we value things changes. It isn’t so much that you throw out your “old” values as change the level of importance. Our values can clash with one another as well causing cognitive dissonance. If you haven’t reviewed your values recently, here is a ValuesInventory that I often give to my clients.
• Who or what in our environment entices us? Many times we are confronted with situations where we want to be in with the “cool kids”. The desire to compete, show off or be part of the glamour tempts us to put our integrity aside. Other situations include using an excessive amount of company time for personal calls, shopping, social media (unrelated to your job) or chatting with co-workers.
• Expediency can undermine our integrity. How many projects have you been a part of that included giving a customer a product with defects. Maybe it really doesn’t affect the  product is a major way and maybe the customer won’t notice? It’s also fairly common to tell someone what they want to hear so they stop bothering you. The old “the check is in the mail” is a great example of this.

But what makes us put blinders on?

It would be nice to say only “bad” people make unethical choices. It’s not that simple though. Fatigue and stress undermine our ability to make good judgements. Since self-discipline is a finite resource, we might compromise ourselves (on a small scale, I hope) because we just don’t have the juice to see through the more challenging choices.

Maybe it’s the system of capitalism? It’s so easy to say “let the market sort things out”. Although sustainability and social responsibility has become a bigger piece of the business landscape, old habits die hard. The idea that it must be “winner takes all” creates an environment where cutting corners or simply avoiding certain choices makes money. It’s hard to beat that kind of reinforcement. Not that it can’t be done. It merely is a challenge. And as long as there are bubbles in the market (think the dot.com, housing and maybe gold right now?), people will ride those waves and build businesses to answer perceived needs or wants for these markets.

So, how do we encourage ourselves and others to act with integrity?

We could leave all this ethics stuff to academics, ethicists or philosophers. However, the most effective way to get this stuff out in the open is to talk about it. Frankly, a code of ethics written in the employee handbook is not worth much if it is never actually tested with conversations and critical thinking. There are some great suggestions on how to create these conversations on the HBR Blog Network by Francesca Gino. It’s been noted by Dan Ariely and other researchers that we are adept at rationalizing our choices. By stopping to examine our behavior, even if the conversation isn’t about us directly, we are given the chance to build up our ability to act with integrity and courage.

What other everyday temptations occur in business settings?

What do we  risk by making ethical choices?

How would a common code of business ethics work in real life?

What would help each of us to act with more consistent integrity?

Join us for the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog, this Friday, August 26th as we take a look at this topic, “Ethics, Blinders and Business.”  We meet every Friday at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT .

A while ago I participated in the Twitter chat, #leadershipchat. When I left the chat, this question stuck with me. Who do great leaders follow?

It’s so easy to talk about how leaders should get us to follow them. Or if you are a leader, you’ve got some ideas about how to get people to follow you. There are great questions about how much authenticity, vulnerability, and charisma are expressed by great leaders. We know great leadership when we see it. You can feel yourself rise up like boats rising when the tide comes in. You want to be with that person and even do what is asked or told to you. They have a way of bringing the best out of you.

So what about the personal experience of being a leader?

Recently someone asked  me what it would be like for me to be just a member of a team and not call the shots. It made me pause as I thought about what it means to me to be a leader and wonder if I could become a better leader.

Sure, being able to have final say is good. And creating a vision that excites other people to want to work with and for you is fulfilling. There is a certain cache to being able to say, “I’m Joe/Jane Schmo, CEO (president, owner) of XYZ Company.” People look at you differently. They have expectations of you. They depend on you. This feels pretty good.

Yet, some days don’t feel quite so gratifying. There are the days when you’re studying the financials and seeing how far you can realistically implement the strategic plan. Lately, this hasn’t been a satisfying experience for many business leaders. There are also days when you realize you are very alone with your thoughts, fears and imaginings of how your business can continue to function.

There is so much advice for leaders.

• I did a quick search on Amazon.com to see how many books were listed on business leadership. Result=22, 795 books
• So then I did a quick search on Google.com about business leadership. Result=44,500,000 hits

With all of these possibilities, it amounts to cacophony. Sifting through can be a consuming task. Most business leaders I’ve met and gotten to know have little time and patience for trying to figure out what would help them perform best. But that doesn’t mean they are not looking for inspiration and direction themselves. You may be indomitable nearly every day but it is a fallacy to think that great leaders don’t occasionally have doubts.  Being a leader means you’re willing to take on responsibility and be accountable. When things are tough economically or just within your organization, it feels like you’re slogging through the mud of the day. It might give you pause and then you get going again. This is natural. What is it about the great leaders that re-charges their inner fire? What can we learn from them?

So, who do great leaders follow?

I’m inviting you to add your observations here and in the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog, tomorrow at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT. What can we learn from people we identify as great leaders? How are they different from good leaders?

I do hope you can join us on Twitter. Some questions to consider for thought and discussion:

Does having a mentor act as an apprenticeship to great leadership?

How do great leaders get support from their community? (Who is their community?)

What relationship does engaging with art, literature or film have with great leadership?

How do they sustain their belief system so it feeds their vision and keeps them connected to their followers?

 So…now the dust has settled. The National Hockey League has completed their draft and the owners and general managers are focusing on trades. The Bruins have brought home the Stanley Cup! Let’s see what can we learn from the Boston Bruins.

1. Knowing when to be aggressive

Anyone who has watched an ice hockey game knows that it is a fast, hard-hitting sport. While watching the series, I noticed that the Bruins would choose to play one game at a high tempo and keep pressuring their opponents. In other games, they played at a slower tempo that seemed methodical at times. Much like a hockey game, there are periods of high activity when you’re looking to grow your position in the market or go head to head with a competitor. In a recent conversation with a woman business owner, she described how fully engaged she was in producing a project proposal while knowing full well she was up against one of the biggest competitors in her industry.

Teams often change the tempo of a game to play with different strengths and to get the other team off their game plan. When you’re leading a business, it makes sense to “slow down” by emphasizing business planning, research and development or using the ebb and flow of your industry to regroup and recharge with vacations or other forms of downtime. Knowing when to take the aggressive approach has to be a fully conscious choice and not based on the conventional idea that business must always be fast-paced.

2. Keeping emotions from directing play

There is a story going around Boston that Zdeno Chara, captain of the Bruins, urged his teammates to keep their emotions in check after Nathan Horton was hit hard and injured. I couldn’t find a link corroborating this story but clearly someone said something. How do I know? It’s not unknown for a team to go after a player they think went far beyond the normal bounds of play. However, the Bruins didn’t do this. Regardless if it was Chara or someone else in the locker room, the team stayed focused on winning the Cup.

With the ragged economic recovery, it is easy for our emotions to drive our decision-making. There can even be some internal stuff like personality conflicts that affect how we interact and manage our employees. Who do you have to talk with? It’s important to have someone who can give you the pep talk or talk you down when your emotions are strong. Focus your passion on what makes your business a winner.

3. Assists and goals count

There aren’t many sports that count assists. In hockey, if you pass the puck to your teammate and your teammate scores, you get credit too. Collaboration is certainly a hot topic lately in business thought. In fact, there is a book by Adam Brandenburger and Barry Nalebuff titled Co-opetition: A Revolution Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation; The Game Theory That is Changing the Game of Business. In my own business, I just finished a collaboration with a colleague that combined his expertise in project team management and my expertise in leadership skills and self-management. It was affirming, enlightening and allowed us to be exposed to new groups of prospects. Who could you collaborate with? How would it change your business?

4. Teamwork

There are only two actual stars on the Bruins team. Zdeno Chara being a fabulous defenseman and Tim Thomas who is an amazing goalie. They needed the other players to do their jobs on the ice. Goals had to be scored, the puck had to be cleared and the opposing team had to be kept away from scoring opportunities. The real test of teamwork is in a loss. Typically, championship teams play until the final buzzer, no matter what the score is. Another business owner was telling me that various milestones would not have been met if it hadn’t been for her great team. She explained that they all understood their roles and were willing to take direction from her which led to success. It’s probably also true that they performed well as a team since this business owner tends to be a collaborative leader and encourages feedback and initiative from her people.

5. Bring your own ice.

One image that really stuck with me was Nathan Horton pouring a bottle of water on the ice. It turned out that he brought some melted ice from Boston Garden to bring luck and the feeling that playing in Vancouver was still playing on home ice.There is probably some kind of pychological sense that it’s “yours” and feels familiar. This can be an edge when the stakes are high. As a business leader, you can “bring your own ice” too. It could be literal like a favorite pen, coffee/tea mug or your smartphone. There could be a routine you do at the office that you can replicate when you’re out. The key thing here is to be yourself, comfortable and loose.

 Winning is a collection of intentional choices and habits.

The Bruins, including their coach, thought about how they wanted to approach each series as they progressed towards the Stanley Cup Finals. While doing the same doesn’t guarantee winning every time, it does mean that you will always be ready to play and trust yourself.

Usually I avoid writing a post that refers to a holiday here in the US. Lots of readers of this blog come from all over the world so keeping themes focused on business is about inclusivity. But for this holiday, I’m making an exception.

It’s Independence Day in the US. It began with an amazing document, the Declaration of Independence, which has inspired parts of the French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens of 1789 as well as parts of  the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. If you’re into history, the ways this document has shaped America and how we think about equality is also pretty fascinating but that’s a post for someone else.

Pursuing happiness is an inalienable right.

It may be a right but why are we pursuing it?  What does that really mean? If you follow some of the recent research about entrepreneurship, it appears that 80% of startups are being founded by people over 35. After the Great Recession, there are lots of people who are in position to follow their dreams. And maybe that is what pursuing happiness is about. Take a look at your business…what is it that draws you back again and again?

Maybe I should back up a little. How do you define happiness anyway? Like a lot of emotions, it really is on a spectrum and ranges from pleasure, enjoyment, contentment, joy to ecstasy. But what fuels our happiness often is something brings meaning or an aesthetic. For example, many people find a massage makes them happy. The meaning here is one of self-care and human touch. Others feel happy when they hit a sales goal. The thrill of seeing one’s skills in action and getting the win feels good! I have a friend who celebrated a successful moment in her business by buying herself a cocktail ring. This combined her pleasure in her good performance as well as wearing a beautiful piece of jewelry.

If we parse apart the pursuit  of happiness, it seems that engaging in the process is a basic human right.

It certainly is a hunger that we all experience. Think back to your Intro to Psychology class and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  In his Safety Needs, Maslow noted that people need health and well-being. While we can argue whether it is truly a hierarchy or not, the point is that we need to feel positively. Within the human experience, we seek a positive way of being. Notice all of the gurus, religious/spiritual authorities and other people who are encouraging us to think  positively. (Okay, I’m in there too since healthy thinking is one of my passions.)

More and more, work has to be more than just a place you show up and complete tasks that earn us money. Having the opportunity to gain our happiness is something all people not only hunger for but are endowed with automatically. Leading your business is how you’ve created an avenue to fulfill your own desire for happiness.

Leading a business feels good.

Yeah…sure, there are days when you would really like to be doing something else. There is a problem with meeting a deadline, a customer is unhappy or there are economic pressures that are difficult to manage. On the other hand, we have the joy of making the decisions, creating the vision of where the business goes next and even encouraging what new products or services are created and sold. But underlying all of this is that sense of creating meaning and purpose. If your business is big enough, you are in a position to invite your employees to experience meaning and purpose. The combination of our aspirations and skills is a potent mix!  

How are you exercising your right to pursue happiness?

What does it mean to you?