THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS?
On a plane to Seattle recently I picked up a Psychology Today magazine. In an article on page 74, of the May issue, Karen Wright reports on money and the stress that many feel about money. In particular, she speaks of the money scripts we all have playing in our head and how those affect the way we feel about money.
In the article, she references a study from 2008 from the University of British Columbia conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, Ph.D. The study was on Happiness. In a series of studies, Dunn and her team demonstrated that we can, in fact buy happiness. Her team pointed out, that more important than how much money we had or earned; it was how we spend money that seems to determine happiness.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not.”
To learn more about these studies: http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/media/releases/2008/mr-08-032.html
What does this mean for us as business leaders? I believe we can take these same principles and apply them to our businesses. I think we can all think of companies who hold the value that “Profit is the main reason to be in business"; and can compare them to companies where the value is “Delivering value to the customer at a profit”. Think Enron v. Whole Foods. The former is gone, customers and shareholders are broke and people are in jail. While the later is growing through sustainable growth and people actually choose the supermarket as a destination v. a chore.
As business leaders, I believe it is important for us to remember why we got into business in the first place. Yes, we all wanted to make an income. We can do that working for someone else; oft times we can make more money working for someone else. No, we got into business because we thought we could deliver better value than was being delivered. I am convinced that when we stay true to that cause, value delivery the market will reciprocate with value.
What are your thoughts?
Categories: Business Culture
Tags: Intentions Business Culture
"Greed, for the lack of a better term, is bad." I know that's not what Gordon Gecko from the movie "Wall Street" actually said, but it is what he should have said.
I think we all deliver value in line with our set of personal values. When what I value is money above everything else I deliver something the brings me money. But that doesn't mean that it brings our customers any type of real value. When we deliver value to our customers because we VALUE the customer, then I think the money follows. But since money is not what we value most, we have no need to keep it. Instead we spread it around to those who need our help because that is also our value.
With business leaders you also see those who value themselves above their employees. Everything they do is designed to make themselves look good, not caring about the employees. Their road to the top is limited by their own intelligence and ability to produce. While other leaders value their employees and use the talents their employees bring to further themselves, the employees and the company. They are not limited by their own intelligence, but can instead draw upon the intelligence of their entire team.
Leaders are like the businesses that you described (Enron and Whole Foods). When they are in it for themselves they flourish and then burn out. When they are in it for others, they flourish as the team flourishes.
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The price people pay for goods and services is based on the perceived value of that good or service. The more value that you add for the consumer, the more they will pay for it. So, adding value is always a good idea, as it adds value for both the consumer, and the business.
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Upon reading your entry (7.3.09), I immediately put into my own business: education. What you are talking about is respect and priorities. As a teacher, if I assume I understand all administrators or all children, then my learning, my ability to do my job well, stops. The thrill of the job connects to an absolute love of new discovery--and one of the best places of discovery is people.
I have found that, if you let them, people can really surprise you.
Apparently, the poor "leaders" you mentioned earlier just don't get that.
We all hope that we are in your second category!
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