[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_image=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/1-9-scaled.jpg” custom_padding=”0|0px|0|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”|auto|-54px|auto||” custom_padding=”467px|0px|0|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Sans||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”72″ text_line_height=”1.1em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”785px” custom_margin=”-98px||0px|||” custom_padding=”||168px|||” text_font_size_tablet=”52″ text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
The Joyful Leader<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”3368px” custom_margin=”-5px|||||” custom_padding=”134px|0px|9px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”1200px” custom_margin=”-43px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”20px||0px|” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|||” custom_padding_phone=”” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”1200px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/david-ivers.png” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”-45px|||||” animation=”off” sticky=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Sans|on|||” text_text_color=”#02b875″ text_font_size=”20″ text_line_height=”1.2em” header_text_color=”#000000″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”140px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||0px|” global_colors_info=”{}”]DAVID IVERS<\/span><\/a> \u201cIf you are joyful, it will shine in your eyes and in your look, in your conversation and in your contentment. You will not be able to hide it because joy overflows.<\/em><\/p>\n Joy is very contagious. Try, therefore, to be always overflowing with joy wherever you go.<\/em><\/p>\n Mother Teresa. (2010). In the Heart of the World<\/a> (eBook). Novato, California: New World Library. p.28.<\/em><\/p>\n February is that awkward month. It always seems to fall short of a couple of days, suffering burnout from the juggernaut months of December, ending one year and January starting the next. In the middle of a 28 Day month, we celebrate love via Valentine\u2019s Day and more broadly the quality of our relationships with other people. It\u2019s almost as if the calendar periodically reminds us: \u201cDon\u2019t forget to be loving! Don\u2019t forget to let the people you care about know that you do care about them!\u201d<\/p>\n If you see leadership as a process of influence, you are not going to influence people if they are not listening. To get them to listen to you, requires you, the leader, to have a positive relationship with them. There is a subtle difference between hearing what is being said by a leader and actually listening to them. Leadership is about relationships. So here is the next question. When you find yourself in either a professional or personal relationship, do you find it works best if the other person is also generally happy, calm, and grounded, giving lots of positive energy, or does the negative unhappy person work better for you? Most people would go with the positive energy, the happy, calm, well-grounded person and as a result, buy-in of the leader is more likely and the process of influence is more achievable. For the bonus question: as a leader, when was the last time you smiled at your staff, maybe even shared a laugh with them? All of this points towards notions of being a joyful leader.<\/p>\n This information isn\u2019t just useful to those in leadership. It is just as valuable in the recruitment process. Generally, interview panels are trying to ascertain if you would be a person that others on staff could warm to, relate to, engage with. The person that has an abundance of positive energy is more likely to engage with the panel and present a positive, life-giving vision for the role should they be appointed. It\u2019s not really \u2018Rocket Science\u2019 but it is Neuroscience, as Paul J Zak, Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology, and Management at Claremont Graduate University, explains.<\/p>\n \u201cI have tested oxytocin release in the bedroom, board room, and bivouac. It occurs everywhere. I have documented more than a dozen ways to stimulate oxytocin production in my experiments. All it takes is a positive social interaction without too much stress or testosterone. Oxytocin just might be the molecule that makes us human. At least it is the molecule that creates our humanity. By understanding a little about the neuroscience of oxytocin, you can harness humanity at work. Believe me, the people at work want this. A key takeaway from this chapter is that culture is not static. It evolves as the people and purpose of the organization change.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Zak, Paul, J. (2017).\u00a0The Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies<\/a>\u00a0(eBook).\u00a0New York, NY: AMACOM. p.25-26.<\/i><\/p>\n So, Mother Teresa was spot on in her statement about joy. It fuels a positive emotional state, triggering the neuroscience of Oxytocin to kick in and through iterations of joy-filled moments, it soon becomes contagious. The upshot of course is that people like to work with and work for, someone who is full of joy. Sure, every now and then that leader\u2019s humanity will show a more somber side. That degree of vulnerability, that reflection of a leaders true \u2018humanness\u2019 is not a sign of weakness. It reminds us all that we are human and empowers others to embrace their humanity. It makes the leader more endearing. It also contributes to the building of a culture of \u2018Psychological Safety\u2019, one in which the power of positive interactions can be learned, according to Harvard Business School Professor, Amy C Emondson, in her book \u201cThe Fearless Organization.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy view is that, yes, most people can learn. And that includes learning to better understand the positive and negative effects that one’s mindset and behavior is having on others. Most people would prefer to have positive rather than negative effects on others, and most are also able to gain insight on how to do that, with training and coaching.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Edmondson, Amy, C. (2019). The fearless organization: creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth<\/a> (eBook). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p.196.<\/em><\/p>\n From a cursory glance of some of the available literature, it is not a stretch to suggest that as humans, we prefer to be in an emotional state of joy. What\u2019s more, our brain enjoys it too! Joy is often associated with other positive states of being. How many times have you seen a Christmas card that wishes you the \u2018Peace and Joy of the Festive Season\u2019? Joy and peace often go together. They occur through internalization. Put another way, your interior life is where they are processed and reside. As a leader, they become manifest for example, in your \u2018Adaptive Leadership\u2019. Joy is that place where all seems to be right with the world. Its cousin, happiness is from an external trigger. Anthropologist Victor Turner explains with eloquence, happiness as a state of flow. The trigger is external but secondary to the sense of flow that it creates.<\/p>\n \u201cTo flow is to be as happy as a human can be \u2013 the particular rules or stimuli that triggered the flow, whether chess or a prayer meeting, do not matter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Turner, Victor (1982). From Ritual to Theatre, New York City: Performing Arts Journal Publications. p.58.<\/p>\n Another Anthropologist, Douglas Davies, working from a Phenomenological perspective, likens states of joy or sorrow to a \u2018smell of emotion\u2019. What he demonstrates and concludes is that joy is found in and manifested from a deep internal place for us humans and its liminality or threshold is unique to the individual. What might be found joyful for one person might be sorrowful for another.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a smell, my emotion and my ideas cohere to yield a joy or sorrow, as the history of that smell may dictate. And it is just such smells that cannot be <\/em>\u2018<\/em>interpreted<\/em>\u2019<\/em>, language-like, for others to understand. As such, the concept of the smell serves a fundamental purpose as a symbol of and for an entire category of human life experiences that are profoundly important, but that cannot be directly <\/em>\u2018<\/em>interpreted<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>for others.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Davies, Douglas (2020). Anthropology and Theology<\/a> (eBook). New York City: Routledge. p.190.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#f7f7f4″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ make_equal=”on” column_padding_mobile=”on” module_class=” et_pb_row_fullwidth” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” width_tablet=”100%” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”100%” max_width_tablet=”100%” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” min_height=”594px” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” make_fullwidth=”on” custom_width_px=”680px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2-8.jpg” title_text=”Corporate,Photo,Smiling,Diverse,Employees,With,Confident,Executive,Wearing,Glasses” show_bottom_space=”off” force_fullwidth=”on” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”||0px|||” animation=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#efefe9″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/3-8.jpg” title_text=”Positive,Friendly,African,And,Caucasian,Creative,Team,Employees,Talking,Laughing” show_bottom_space=”off” force_fullwidth=”on” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text disabled_on=”off|off|” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_text_color=”#818178″ text_font_size=”24″ text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”1.2%|10%||10%||” custom_margin_tablet=”|10%||10%” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”0px|||||” text_font_size_tablet=”” text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n If you see leadership as a process of influence, you are not going to influence people if they are not listening.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Sans|on|||” text_text_color=”#888888″ text_font_size=”12″ text_letter_spacing=”2px” text_line_height=”1.2em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||20%|” custom_margin_tablet=”20px|||” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”]DAVID IVERS Writing in Psychology Today, relationships expert Sandra L Brown, highlights the subtle differences between happiness and joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHappiness is external. It’s based on situations, events, people, places, things, and thoughts…You’re probably thinking, “Sure, you can have joy in those circumstances if you are Mother Teresa!” Joy is almost a mystery, isn’t it? It’s a spiritual quality that is internal…When stuff, people, and the problems they bring fall away there is a stillness. Only in that stillness can we ever find the joy that resides inside of us, dependent on nothing external in order to exist.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Brown, Sandra, L. (2012). \u2018<\/em>Joy vs. Happiness\u2019<\/a><\/em> in Psychology Today.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Ultimately humans need both to thrive. Happiness and joy is an attractive positive state, or as Mother Teresa says, a contagious state to be in. If we want people to thrive in life, that must include a deep desire by those in leadership to include the workplace. A happy, joy-filled workplace is likely to spurn high levels of trust which Professor Zak in his studies has demonstrated as one sure way to improve profits and productivity. Anybody that has ever studied Governance would be familiar with the mantra \u201cthe fish rots from the head\u201d (See Bob Garratt (2010). \u2018The Fish Rots from the Head\u2019<\/a>. London: Profile Books). If that\u2019s true, then it makes sense that happiness and joy would spread like a contagion from the Board down. For leaders of any organization, it creates a Kairos moment, an \u2018it\u2019s time now!\u2019 moment to embrace happiness and joy across the organization. Pope Francis in a homily in 2017 highlights what flows from contagious joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA joy that generates life, that generates hope, that makes itself flesh in the way we look at tomorrow, in the attitude with which we look at other people. A joy that becomes solidarity, hospitality, mercy towards everyone.\u201d Pope Francis, Homily 25 March 2017.<\/p>\n Pope Francis. (2019). Happiness in this Life<\/a> (eBook). London: Pan Macmillan. p.79.\u00a0<\/p>\n This has implications for any person in leadership. Great leaders offer a joy-filled leadership. By that, following on from the words of Pope Francis, is a leadership that is life-giving, gives hope, colors our outlook and our attitude towards others. A joy-filled leadership that manifests in solidarity with the team being led, hospitality that caters to a sense of belonging, and a mercy that recognizes the vulnerability and \u2018humanness\u2019 of each person on the team. The upside of this approach, one which requires an authentic joy on the part of the leader, is obvious. This reinforces a culture of joy and trust. The work of Professor Paul Zak informs us that a high trust organization has a high level of employee engagement which translates into better productivity and better outcomes for all.\u00a0<\/p>\n This of course begs many questions. Why not focus on these positive states? What is the alternative? Tom Peters in a reference to the work of Richard Sheridan, asks this very question. His answer is enlightening.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI must ask \u2026 <\/em>WHY NOT? <\/em><\/p>\n Before dismissing this as pie in the sky and moving on, consider each of these words:<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And then consider their opposites. Do we want an un<\/strong><\/em>emotional, joy<\/em>less<\/em><\/strong>, un<\/strong>creative, un<\/strong>-excellent workplace? Of course not.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n So, I say again: WHY NOT? Why not shoot for the moon?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Peters, Tom. (2018) The Excellence Dividend<\/a> (eBook). London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. p.53.\u00a0<\/p>\n Richard Sheridan\u2019s contribution to this discussion on joy-filled leadership draws on his experience establishing a competitive \u2018System Software\u2019 company, Menlo Innovations. The bedrock upon which his company is built is, \u2018Joy\u2019! From himself as president of the company, through to his front line staff and their engagement with clients, the mantra is \u2018Joy\u2019 and it colors everything they do.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can<\/em>\u2019<\/em>t embark on a journey to establish a culture of leadership for its own sake. Your organization must serve a higher purpose. We figured out that at Menlo we wanted to produce joy in the world for others. The things we do are in pursuit of that joy. Bringing joy to others gives us pride in what we do. That brings us joy. A purpose-driven culture is hard to build. It takes time. You will suffer setbacks…Remember that you<\/em>\u2019<\/em>re doing it for the right reasons. And it will result in joy. Most of us are willing to work very hard for something important…Some ask, <\/em>\u201c<\/em>How did you do it?\u201d You might answer, <\/em>\u201c<\/em>I don<\/em>\u2019<\/em>t know how I did it, but I do know why.\u201d\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|on|” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”PT Serif||on||” text_text_color=”#363636″ text_font_size=”16″ text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”140px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||20px||true|” global_colors_info=”{}”]David Ivers is from Sydney, Australia. He is a qualified Primary and Secondary School Teacher. In total, he has served on school leadership teams for 16 years in senior leadership roles.
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