Work That Matters: Happiness in the Workplace with Mike Steib
How long would you withstand doing work that drains happiness from your life?
Throughout our life we all have times where we grapple with life changing questions that demand an answer:
- “How much of my kid’s life am I missing because I travel 3 weeks each month?”
- “I’m bored in my career and I don’t know what to do next?”
- “I don’t know what I want to do with my career… does that matter right now?”
Yet, despite the implications, we have become too comfortable bartering our happiness for more money or a promotion. Or maybe because we’re excited to roll out our next big idea.
Happiness in the Workplace
Some might argue that being happy and the workplace should have nothing to do with each other. There was a time for that thinking, but that time is gone. In America, the workforce invests the equivalent of 6 working days a week. So the need to justify a focus on happiness at work is less about the long work hours. It is mostly about accounting for the cognitive, emotional, and social demands inherent in how we work today.
People leaders are best positioned to shape the environment. And one way to do that is through happiness.
With this set-up in mind, this week’s episode of Work That Matters focuses on happiness in the workplace…
About This Week’s Episode Guest
In this episode, we talk with Mike Steib, CEO of the XO Group. You may be familiar with some of the XO Group’s brands: The Knot, The Bump, The Nest, Foundhers, How He Asked, and also Gigamasters. Each of these brands is connected to important milestone in life: from proposing to getting married to empowering female leaders.
Mike talks about how the absence of happiness in his work led him to a career change and a more meaningful life. Fortunately for us, he codified his approach and wrote about it in his book The Career Manifesto: Discover Your Calling and create an Extraordinary Life. We also talk about stress and its influence on performance. We’ll even get a little philosophical and talk about the hedonic treadmill.
Alright, enjoy another new episode of Work That Matters by WorqIQ. And get ready to take lots of notes!
Important Links
Links to concepts and ideas discussed in today’s interview:
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