Jordan Peace is Co-Founder & CEO of Fringe, the first lifestyle benefits marketplace, and Greenhouse Money, financial services.
It’s no wonder that the words “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” have been immortalized for all these centuries. Give just about any human being the time, space and money to do whatever they want, and what will they do? They’ll pursue happiness. We want to be happy; we don’t need to be told to chase after it.
But in order to think about and pursuit of happiness as it relates to business, we must first define it. Let’s go way back and borrow some philosophy from Aristotle. The Greek philosopher, who made significant contributions to many areas of human knowledge, laid out four levels of happiness: Laetus, felix, beatitudo and sublime beatitudo. Here is how I see them working in a business context.
The Four Levels Of Happiness
Level One: Laetus
Laetus is translated as simple pleasure-seeking. This is sensual gratification based on external things: A cool plunge into a pool on a scorching hot day or the first bite of one’s favorite dessert. Anytime our senses are pleased with an outward stimulus, this is Laetus. You can think of it as basic and momentary satisfaction.
Level Two: Felix
Felix is the gratification of our ego. An oversimplified explanation may be to substitute with the word winning. When we achieve a short-term goal and feel a sense of accomplishment, we experience Felix. When we get a promotion, praise or recognition of some kind, we are benefiting from this second level, as Aristotle defines it. Felix is the reason, corporately speaking, that reward and recognition platforms exist.
Level Four: Sublime Beatitudo
I’m going to go out of order here and describe sublime beatitudo next. This ultimate, sustained and final form of happiness can only be thought about in the realm of the spiritual or transcendent. Therefore, this level of happiness, by definition, can’t be explicitly or directly achieved en masse by a diverse group of people.
You can pursue this form of happiness through art, philosophy, religion or spirituality. As people leaders and company leaders, I believe that we ought to encourage and make space for our people to pursue sublime happiness however they see fit.
Level Three: Beatitudo
I saved this form of happiness for last because I believe beatitude is an ideal rallying point for the pursuit of happiness within a corporate world. It is based on the human desire to connect, befriend, do good and show compassion.
Human beings experience this type of happiness—perhaps joy is a better word—when they look beyond themselves toward the well-being of others. This joy, as I’m defining it here, is not permanent and without interruption. Joy doesn’t transcend time and space because human beings live in a world full of imperfect people and imperfect relationships. But despite these ebbs in the flow of joy, this level of happiness can be deep and long-lasting.
Beatitudo is the reason why businesses have a mission and vision. We have a common core desire to make the world a better place through our work. It would be fair to translate mission or vision to “purpose” when speaking of individuals. It is this purpose, ultimately, that must be established in order for any pursuit of happiness to take place. It not only helps us set a goal in place but also gives us a framework by which to judge actions as either aligned or misaligned with our desires.
Happiness And Work
Now that we’ve established what we mean by happiness, what does this have to do with work? Or, more specifically, why should executives and leaders care about facilitating and influencing their employees to be happy? The answer is three-fold: reciprocation, contagion and productivity.
Reciprocation
Let’s take reciprocation first. We’ve already established that beatitudo, or joy, is a deep, meaningful and long-lasting feeling of contentment. This feeling is derived directly from an effort to impact others. By definition, joy is relational. If company leaders, or any people leader in any context, wish to experience joy themselves, they must first pursue the well-being, thriving and contentment of those they lead.
Think about the last time you volunteered or explicitly went out of your way to serve another person. Who benefits? Certainly, those being served are beneficiaries in these moments, but almost universally, those who do the volunteering or service report a feeling of deep satisfaction and are changed for the better by their experience. If we want to feel joy, we ought to spread joy.
Productivity
“But what about the bottom line?” the CFOs chime in. (Sorry to pick on you, CFOs.) Fear not; happiness is a significant boon to productivity as well. Happiness is closely linked to business goals like recruiting, retention and productivity. According to a study by MIT, self-reported happiness is a predictive measurement of employee productivity.
Contagion
Similar to reciprocation, joy can act as a cheat code and spread like wildfire. Just like we understand that happy employees are more productive than others, years of surveys within my company have shown that happy employees are also more loyal.
However, the benefits don’t end with employees. A company full of happy employees translates to a company with happy customers. As a consumer, our perspective on a brand is based on how a company makes us feel. Of course, a bad product or service won’t likely be saved by joyful employees, no matter how well they treat customers or clients, but even an average product or service can feel like an elite experience if the contagious joy of the service provider comes through.
Happiness is a worthy pursuit and not just at home or privately. I believe the corporate pursuit of beatitudo is to the benefit of all. It recruits. It retains. It drives productivity and favorable outcomes. If you lead people, if you want your company to thrive, if you want to recruit the best and keep them (and keep your customers as well), then I encourage you to look to create this form of joy in your workplace.
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