Are You a Good Gardener?
Last Friday I gave a talk at London Business School to help launch their report on Employee Centred Management with HCL (a hugely inspirational Indian IT company).
Hi, we are Happy
We are leading a movement to create happy, empowered and productive workplaces.
How can we help you and your people to find joy in at least 80% of your work?
More on that to come. But I was really taken by a blog by Zoe Bunter, in response to what I said about the focus of management being about making people happy. Here’s an extract:
"So, surely leadership is about creating the right environment to enable people to use, express and give what is already inside of them. I recently gave a presentation about leadership where I planted a sunflower seed. A sunflower seed doesn’t need to be told how to become a sunflower. It doesn’t need training to develop from a tiny unpromising-looking small hard thing into a beautiful, astonishingly large, bright yellow flower. It has all that potential and ability to realise this, inside of itself. What it does need though is the right environment."
“It needs somewhere to put roots down – a healthy culture that will give it stability and sustenance as it grows. It needs nutrients and water to feed it and enable it to grow. It needs the light and warmth of the sun. In a similar way, we need a place to put roots down – a sense of belonging and the support of colleagues is very important to many of us. We need food and water – guidance, direction, the passion of others, their skills, challenges, new ideas and new approaches (to name but a few). And we need warmth and light – encouragement, care, support through the tough times, praise, appreciation, love – expressed in many, many different ways.”
You can read Zoe’s full blog, Are you a good gardener?, on her website.
Related blogs
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Happy Workplaces are More Successful -Learn more about the link between increased happiness in the workplace and success in this blog.
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Let People Choose Their Managers-One of the most common complaints in the workplace is that people love their job but clash with their manager, what if solving that problem was as simple as letting them choose who they want instead?
- Are you Really Listening and Valuing your Team? -You can't manage effectively if you don't listen to and value what your team has to say. Learn more about true collaboration and the value that can add to your team.
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Learn the 10 core principles to create a happy and productive workplace in Henry Stewart's book, The Happy Manifesto.
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Henry Stewart, Founder and Chief Happiness Officer
Henry is founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Ltd, originally set up as Happy Computers in 1987. Inspired by Ricardo Semler’s book Maverick, he has built a company which has won multiple awards for some of the best customer service in the country and being one of the UK’s best places to work.
Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential management thinkers in the world. "He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business," explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.
His first book, Relax, was published in 2009. His second book, the Happy Manifesto, was published in 2013 and was short-listed for Business Book of the Year.
You can find Henry on LinkedIn and follow @happyhenry on Twitter.
Next Conference: 2025 Happy Workplaces Conference
Our Happy Workplaces Conference is our biggest event of the year, and we'd love for you to join us on Wednesday 25th June!
Our 2024 event was our first ever hybrid event, and so we hope to run next year's in the same way. We will host up to 50 people face-to-face at Happy's HQ in Aldgate, London, and we can host up to 200 people online via Zoom. However you choose to join, there will be interaction, discussion, space for reflection and opportunities to network with others.
Stay tuned for full details of our speakers for next year's event. As always, our speakers share practical, hands-on ideas that you can implement to create happy and engaged workplaces.
Related courses
The Happy Leadership Programme
Brave Leadership: One-Year Leadership Development Programme for Women
Level 7 Senior Leadership Apprenticeship Programme
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