Broadcasting Happiness Pays
Networking Times
August 2015
Excerpt from Broadcasting Happiness by Michelle Gielan. Used with permission.
Since leaving my anchor chair, I have come to three main conclusions, gleaned from all the research and the work we have done at organizations around the globe:
1. The vision of reality we see and share changes other people and can move them from paralysis to activation.
The stories we tell about the world predict whether we believe that happiness is a choice and whether we’ll take action to create happiness—or stay stagnant, inert, and powerless. Our stories are a reflection of our mindset or outlook on a situation and stem from the way we synthesize the facts we gather from the world around us.
Positive, optimistic, solution-focused stories, even if they start in the midst of challenging circumstances, fuel hope and inspire others to believe that change is possible and that our behavior matters. Changing our story from one of paralysis to activation amplifies our power to inspire other people and ignite positive change.
2. Our stories are predictive not only of happiness but also of business, educational, and health outcomes, including engagement, intelligence, energy, and profitability.
New research from the fields of positive psychology and neuroscience shows that small shifts in the way we communicate internally and with others can create big ripple effects on business outcomes, including 31 percent higher productivity, 25 percent greater performance ratings, 37 percent higher sales, and 23 percent lower levels of stress.
Using scientifically supported communication strategies to ripple out a positive mindset can increase happiness and success at work for others as well as for ourselves, instantly making us more effective leaders.
3. We are all broadcasters. We constantly broadcast information to others, even if we don’t say a word. Managers broadcast to their teams during meetings about potential new business opportunities within the industry. Team members broadcast to one another about the likelihood of success on a project. Clients broadcast to potential clients about a company’s customer service. Parents broadcast to their children about how to look at the challenges they experience at school.
Even introverts broadcast their reactions to what other people are saying through their nonverbal communication. And the messages we choose to broadcast shape others’ views of the world and how they operate within it. But before we can influence others, it is crucial to see in the first place how powerful we are to do just that.