Happiness

I view happiness as the overall goal of all of my coaching. There are lots of ways to interpret Happiness, and I think that one definition that is particularly helpful is the Ancient Greek idea of Eudaimonia:

In essence, Eudaimonia represents:

• Flourishing: Living up to one's full potential as a human being.
• Living Virtuously: Consistently acting in accordance with moral and intellectual excellences.
• Rational Activity: Engaging one's capacity for reason in guiding one's life.
• Purpose and Meaning: Living a life that is inherently valuable and directed towards the highest good.
• Objective Well-being: A state that is not solely dependent on subjective feelings but on the actual quality and conduct of one's life.

I often hear leaders say something along the lines of "It's not my job to make everyone happy." To some extent, that is true. For example, if someone has proven that they simply cannot perform in their role and there is no other suitable role for them, then the right outcome overall is very likely for that person to leave the role, and perhaps the company. But, in reality, when that decision is taken, it really is to maximise happiness. It might not seem that way to the person who is being let go, but ultimately they are going to be more fulfilled in a different organisation, so they will be happier as a result of losing this job.

So the kind of happiness that I want to help people achieve is a very rounded happiness that comes from having the right skills to do perform in the role and from having a sense of purpose that lines up well with the role.

Being happy does not mean always having everything easy, having everything go your way. Not at all. What a boring life that would be! To truly flourish with a sense of purpose you need to face challenges, make mistakes and learn from them, and, from time to time, really struggle. If you struggle in a situation from which you come out stronger and with your sense of purpose reinforced, then that struggle was well worth it.

I will not try to make you happy by telling you what to do, or by telling you how wonderful you are. Instead, my goal will be to help you find your purpose, understand that purpose and how it relates to your work and how to be as fulfilled as possible in that work. If that sounds like it might be of interest to you, please do get in touch.