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INFOGRAPHIC: How to lead with joy and optimism

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INFOGRAPHIC: How to lead with joy and optimism

The emotion of joy is defined as ‘a feeling of great pleasure and happiness’.

When was the last time you felt delighted to be starting your working day or blissfully happy about cracking on with a new project?

Richard Sheridan’s book, Chief Joy Officer (How great leaders elevate human energy and eliminate fear) describes how leaders can cultivate an environment where optimism and joy can thrive.

And with so many organisations reshaping their ways of working, we have an opportunity to introduce principles and processes that lead to happy people and joyful teams.

If you’re a leader there are some effective things you can do to generate joy by embracing a model in which people have a real sense of purpose, take responsibility, learn from each other, continually improve and enjoy what they do.

 

Our latest infographic explores how…

 

Great leaders inspire.

They build others up, unleash potential and bring lasting joy.

They ignore hierarchy and bureaucracy and care about creativity and personal authenticity.

As a leader, you can make more of an impact on others and bring a renewed sense of purpose and joy to work by following these key principles.

Joyful leaders are:

  • Authentic
  • Humble
  • Loving
  • Optimistic
  • Visionary
  • Grounded in reality
  • Servant leaders

How to build a culture of joyful leadership

Start with purpose

Pursue systems, processes, plans, and practices with a clear purpose that answers two questions: Who do you serve? What would delight look like for them?

Value leaders, not bosses

Bosses tell you what to do using the authority of their position. Leaders influence and motivate at every level enabling people to feel free to explore, experiment and create.

Pursue systems, not bureaucracy

System thinkers consider how things can be made simpler or how work can be better allocated and monitored. Simple systems that reward desired behaviours help create a joyful culture.

Care for the team

Everyone has a life outside of work which impacts their wellbeing. Support the whole person, not just the employee. Look out for one another’s interests rather than your own.

Learn together
Establish habits like reading within teams to generate excitement and imagination. Let people teach each other by pairing them up and create a business where people love expanding horizons.

Become storytellers

Learning to capture and curate stories helps to build and maintain a joyful culture in ways that PowerPoint slides cannot. Be alert to the stories as they happen, catch the richness of the details that make them interesting.

 

Building a joyous culture requires effort.

Practice servant leadership, foster inquisitiveness, mentor compassionately, think holistically and take chances on people to create workplaces people love!

Content from the brilliant book, Chief Joy Officer by Richard Sheridan

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Emily Stoten — Head of Marketing, Selecta

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Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

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Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

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Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

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Thank you again for all the work you have done with us!”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead - Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA)

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Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

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Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

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Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Alive were professional, friendly and great to work with. Most importantly they were creative, helping us to bring an extremely important safety campaign to life.”

Jack Grasby — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

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Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“This looks amazing - brought a smile to my face scrolling through it :-)”

Jack Ford, Head of Marketing — streamGO

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
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