The book, The Engagement Formula, presents a new leadership model that guarantees full employee engagement. If you implement this new leadership model in your organization, 100 percent of your employees will become engaged with their work - all working at their full potential. Sound impossible?
It is impossible under traditional management methods that emphasize top down direction and control. On the other hand, full employee engagement is routine when you utilize the leadership model presented in this book.
Kindness Makes us Happy in a way that Lasts I recently came across an article written by Alex Dixon titled, "Kindness Makes You Happy... And Happiness Makes You Kind." The article cited two research studies which suggest that once you start doing kind things for other people, you probably won't want to stop. The reason is that performing acts of kindness makes us happy and the happier we feel, the more likely we are to perform another kind act which, in turn, makes us even happier and so forth. In other words, kind acts on our part create a virtuous cycle that leads to lasting happiness. Given the fact that happiness is generally viewed as a feeling that is fleeting or something that evaporates quickly, this is excellent news. Henry James once said: "Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind." Now we know why this is true.
A friend of mine posted on her Facebook a recent article from World Observer Online titled "15 Things You Should Give Up to be Happy." The last in the list of these 15 items caught my attention. It said we should give up living our life according to other people's expectations. According to the article, way too many people are living a life that is not theirs. Instead, they live their lives according to what others think is best for them--their parents, friends and people they're trying to impress. "They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people's expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need....and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life - this one right now - you must live it, own it, and especially don't let other people's opinions distract you from your path."