Why Happiness is a Global Movement
Happiness and well-being aren’t just perky buzzwords—they’re exactly what we need to excel in business, government, and society as a whole.
I can’t stop smiling right now, and it has everything to do with the weekend I spent at the World Happiness Summit earlier this month.
If you’re imagining a bunch of modern-day hippies in flowing hemp garb holding hands and smiling sleepily at bumblebees, let me stop you right there. This was no squishy, woo-woo event (though those gatherings have their place, too). Founded by the inspirational Karen Guggenheim, this incredible event pulls together nearly 1,000 people in person—and thousands more virtually—from all around the world to discuss and celebrate the science of happiness and well-being.
It was amazing to see people from all different disciplines and industries: CEOs, academics, researchers, government officials, lords, people that lead well-being in their companies, sole practitioners who make a living supporting individuals and organizations in their well-being, and others who are just plain passionate about it in their own lives. We were all there to strategize how to further widespread happiness and well-being for the good of society, education, government, work—all the places we need to do a better job of making happiness and well-being the desired outcome, rather than an afterthought.
To see senior leaders and C-suite execs—like Alberto Nobis, CEO of DHL Express Europe and event sponsor—walking the walk, speaking about how to increase happiness and well-being in the workplace and beyond, was powerful. As role models for well-being as a leadership skill set, they’re giving others permission to make it a priority.
The theme of the summit was connection, and we all made good on that idea, connecting with one another through happiness and well-being discussions, but also just forming relationships as people.
A few talks that really stood out for me:
Hardcore well-being data from Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, a Belgian economist and professor at the University of Oxford where he directs the Wellbeing Research Centre, and Lord Richard Layard, an economist, professor, and co-editor of the World Happiness Report and co-founder of Action for Happiness. They presented the stats and facts around why well-being matters—and have been able to prove that companies that prioritize well-being see a 30% increase in performance, vs just 10% for those companies who don’t. The two of them have published a whole textbook on well-being and policy that’s really important for all of us.
We heard from Alla Klymenko, a Ukrainian psychologist and co-founder of Upgrade educational project. She talked about Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold and silver lacquer, and how it’s a metaphor for overcoming life’s challenges and healing after trauma. Her presentation was a powerful reminder that even when we are broken, we still have value and we can still be made whole again. And like Kintsugi, putting the broken parts of ourselves back together can create something uniquely beautiful.
Sarah Cunningham, managing director of the World Wellbeing Movement, shared views that really aligned with my own thinking. She talked about the well-being paradox: Even as companies are increasingly investing in standalone well-being programs and initiatives, the paradox is that if we continue down that same path, we may overinvest in those initiatives without solving the problems that are creating the need for these programs in the first place. The solution: To be preventative, not reactionary, and focus on changing the systems that are creating bad well-being and poor mental health. Companies need to create workplace cultures that support belonging, flexibility, trust, appreciation—those are the leadership skill sets everyone wants. It’s inspiring to me that that conversation is finally bubbling to the surface.
I sat on a panel about well-being at work, alongside DeAnne Aussem, managing director and Well-being Leader @PwC US and MX, and Michael Edwards, global leader for Way We Work at McKinsey and Company. It was very different from other panels I've sat on before because instead of talking about well-being as companies that are competing for the same talent, we talked about it as the collective, and why well-being is good for the profession, and the world of work and workers at large. We came together and realized that what’s good for one of us is good for all of us.
All in all, it was an amazing, inspiring experience to be in the same place with like-minded people, each of us sharing ideas for how to bring more happiness and well-being to every pocket of our societies. Each of us came together to connect—and then left the World Hapiness Summit wanting to take these insights and ideas back to wherever we came from and make an impact.
⬇️ What I’m downloading: The WOHASU app offers video content and other materials, plus direct engagement with the WOHASU community. Add your name to the Wellbeing Manifesto, drafted by Lord Richard Layard and launched at the summit, which states that only by measuring well-being and making it a goal of government, business, education, and individuals can we truly make the world a happier place.
📱 Who I’m following: Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Lord Richard Layard, and Karen Guggenheim, founder/CEO of WOHASU and producer of the World Happiness Summit. Also, if you happen to be in the Miami area on May 10th, come see Karen and I speak at TEDxMiami! 🙌
📗 What I’m reading: Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, by UCLA Anderson School of Management professor Cassie Holmes, PhD, combines solid research with insightful ways to make every moment feel richer and more joyful—since we can’t add minutes to the day, but we can make each minute more meaningful.
📚 What else I’m reading: (I can’t be the only one juggling a stack of great books, right?) I love the way Jacqueline Brassey and coauthors Aaron De Smet and Michiel Kruyt bring together psychology, neuroscience, and consciousness practices—along with their real-world boardroom experiences—in their book, Deliberate Calm: How to Learn and Lead in a Volatile World. It’s filled with actionable ways we can all lead from a place of resilience, and instill that valuable trait in our teams.
Thank you for sharing your insight on well-being with us! I always find these newsletters so inspiring. I especially love the section on what's inspiring you! And I agree, it is hard to read just one book at a time. :)