The Joy of Leadership
Joy has everything to do with being a leader. When you lead a team, or an organization does it bring a sense of joy and confidence to you and others around you? If you cannot answer yes, you may need to re-evaluate.
Leadership comprises a set of principles and values. How you act determines if you have learned these traits. There should be a joy in your soul when you act in a way that is consistent with your personality. If you are leading your team or company in a way that is consistent with who you are and your value system, you will be able to see the joy of others.
If you don’t lead in a way that isn’t right with your values and principles, you might be reluctant to interact with others. You will be the leader who sits in your office and limits your conversations with others. Your lack of honesty and joy in what you do will come through to your employees.
Look at others; watch how they interact with you. Are they respectful yet happy to be around you? Or do they look anywhere but in your eyes when speaking to you? Do they act afraid? Do you sense a look of strain and employees almost run away from your presence?
Joy in a leadership role should be reflected back in the people you are leading. The answer is, do you see the joy of your leadership in the people around you? If you cannot ask “yes” to this question then you need to re-center, re-think and discover your leadership style, values, and principles. Make a leadership shift if you do not have joy or feel joy in your employees.
Joy comes from challenging activities that engage your mind. Joy isn’t just for fun or a feeling of being happy; joy is a feeling of satisfaction and an experience of exhilaration that comes from what you are doing.
Bring the joy to your organization by starting small. Start today and explore something in your job you feel can improve what you are doing. Try new activities with your team and experiment with different ways to do a job. Choose one activity that stretches and redefines you. Reflect that joy to those around you. During the work day, take out an hour to relax, meditate, have lunch and find joy that is deep inside you.
Take the time to pause long enough in your daily tasks to re-evaluate how you feel about your peers, your superiors and your job experiences. Take your self-awareness to a deeper level and find new grounding in you and your accomplishments as a leader. Focus on the part, you play in your company and sustaining your well-being at work.
Once you have found this satisfaction, you can reflect joy to those around you. It will make for a happier company.
