Today’s food for thought and inspiration validates the power of having FUN at Work!

This week I picked up the book A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.

Now I admit I am only on Chapter Six of Nine but I will tell you that Pink “had me at hello” when I read the premise for this work.

In the book Pink details his views that in the future:

There are six essential aptitudes—“the six senses”— on which professional success and personal satisfaction increasingly will depend: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning.

He then goes on to share that:

The capabilities we once disdained or thought frivolous — the “right brain” qualities of inventiveness, empathy, joyfulness and meaning — increasingly will determine who flourishes and who flounders.

For individuals, families and organizations, professional success and personal fulfillment now require a whole new mind.

Hmmm… I thought to myself, as I nodded in agreement while reading on a flight to Atlanta, the capabilities detailed above did not feel all that “new” to me. I reluctantly put the book aside once I landed and went about the business of doing business at my client meetings. All went well as we finished the day and prepared to head to dinner.

Now, I must admit, I had been looking forward to this particular business trip for some time and it wasn’t just because of the project my consulting firm was taking on.

I was also looking forward to reconnecting with a number of my favorite former colleagues from Spherion who all lived in or were visiting the Atlanta area at the same time at both a dinner on Thursday night…


…. as well as a breakfast gathering on Friday morning …


Laughter was abundant during our time together as we told stories and shared memories of all the FUN we all had working together. As I flew home Friday afternoon I found myself laughing at the thought of something someone said or did while we were together and the memories that were still so special and magical for me.

I also couldn’t help but think of all the special friends I worked with and shared a laugh with over the years who were not in attendance and who, I am certain, would have added to the FUN if they HAD been able to attend and then I picked up my book and hit Chapter Three.

In Chapter Three Pink shares thoughts courtesy of Daniel Goleman, the author of the groundbreaking book Emotional Intelligence that:

… more important than a leaders IQ as a determination of his/her success is his/her EQ (Emotional Intelligence) partially defined as “high-touch abilities” like “imagination, joyfulness, and social dexterity”.

In fact Pink goes on to reference a study regarding effective leadership by Goleman and the Hay Group that found that:

… within organizations the most effective leaders were funny (that is funny ha-ha, not funny strange). These leaders had their charges laughing three times more often than their managerial counterparts.

“Nothing NEW about this for me...” I thought to myself as I remembered those I had just left behind as we celebrated the good times we shared together but GREAT validation that one of my favorite bits of Butcher’s Wisdom…


… was as on the money today as it was in those early years of my career.

I do know however that I have my work cut out for me as an Executive Coach and Organizational Development Consultant because I will tell you that leaders who encourage laughter at work are not as abundant as what I had come to know growing up in the staffing industry or “the people business” as my Dad would always call it.

Many thanks to Daniel Pink and his book A Whole New Mind for reminding me that no matter where you lead you are leading people and as a result we are ALL in the people business… and people my friends… love to laugh… I know I sure do.

To all my Spherion friends attending this past weeks gatherings and those who were only there in my heart… looks like we were ahead of our time not only in the way we led… but the way we LAUGHED!

Cheers!

Mary