Ask Roxanne!

Dear Roxanne,
My boss is a good guy, but lately he's been sucking all the joy out of the company. I think it's the economy. He's so worried about the bottom line (or as he puts it, "Staying afloat in this chicken-wire boat") that he snaps at anyone he hears laughing or chatting. "That's not a profitable sound," he once said to someone who was chuckling. "That's a 5:01 sound, people." He's making even happy people crabby. How can I tell him to lighten up for everyone's sake?

- Christina E.

Dear Christina,
I sympathize with the poor guy - it can be incredibly stressful managing a team through these difficult times - but the Scrooge routine will get him the opposite of what he's hoping for. He's not just sucking the joy out of the place, he's sucking the profit out as well. Read this article, then have a chat with Ebenezer so he can connect the dots between a happy workplace and a profitable one. Good luck!

– Roxanne

(Christina's question is just one of a handful I've received this past week about keeping employees motivated during tumultuous economic times. The article below is the first of two on the topic of happiness and its relation to success. Thanks for the inspiration, and keep your questions coming!)

Pocketful of Sunshine, Pocketful of Green

Can money buy happiness?

More than 200 studies indicate money does not make people happy. Surprised? But hang on - research does show a connection between success and happiness, but it flows the other way. People who are happy earn more - over $750,000 more in a lifetime than unhappy folks.

So maybe money doesn't buy happiness...but happiness apparently buys money!

Sure, if you find a quarter on the street or $10 on your winter coat pocket after taking it out of storage, the pleasure centers of your brain light up like a kid in a candy shop. But this initial rush does not translate into long-term pleasure for most people.

Studies have found virtually the same level of happiness between the people on Forbes' list of the wealthiest folks in the world and the Maasai herdsmen of East Africa. The Maasai are not generally known for their investment portfolios. But they do know how to smile.

In addition to socializing and engaging more in leisure activities, solid experimental research shows that people in a positive mood talk to others more readily, resolve conflicts more effectively, collaborate more willingly, help others, think creatively, and perform complex tasks better than people who are stressed and unhappy.

Collaboration, creativity, complex tasks performed well...Sounds like a recipe for success, eh?

So how can you inject more happiness into your life? Interestingly, it's by doing the very things that come easier to happy people. Get out of your cube and interact with others. Help someone else resolve a conflict. Get creative. These things make us happy, which makes it easier to do those things, which...now see the crazy, happy little wheel you're in?

Many executives think it's success that leads to happiness. Put the nose to the grindstone, they say, and we'll all celebrate at the end. I have news for them: You're much more likely to GET to a happy ending if you spare some focus and energy along the way to keep the team happy. That's not just Roxanne talking, it's also the guys and gals in the lab coats. I'd pay attention.

Feeling good in the moment is not only more pleasant but opens our minds to opportunities at work, play and in our personal relationships. By seizing these opportunities to make ourselves and those around us happy and content, we put our eventual success a heck of a lot closer.

Three Tips for Putting Happiness First

• Decide to be happy. More on this next time. For now, know that more of your happiness is in your own hands than you realize.
• Make others happy. You know it's true. Nothing puts a song in your own heart quicker than doing something kind or generous for someone else.
• Celebrate something about each and every day. Make it a bedtime ritual to find the good in the day that just finished. You'll sleep like a log - a very happy log.