January 19, 2015, 12:00 pm
By Sanath Nanayakkare
"An employment manager of a successful organization would rather like to hire an average sales assistant with a happy outlook than a Doctor of Philosophy with a sombre look on his face because businesspeople know such demeanour has great value in the marketplace, Adrian Mcinman, Australian psychologist said in Colombo recently.
Adrian who set up his business Happier Horizons, www.happierhorizons.com in New York in 2005 said this while conducting a workshop at the auditorium of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce entitled, ‘Working with Happiness’. The event was organized by the CCC.
Adrian has seven university qualifications and gained full registration with both the Psychology Board of Australia and the Queensland Psychology Board. To date he has donated his time to 86 organizations in the following 13 countries: Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, England, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, India, Jamaica, St.Lucia, Trinidad and the United States.
"In business, a smile can often defuse a difficult situation. If you are negotiating with a tough investor or discussing issues with a customer, a smile will show that you are willing to listen and eager to help. Smiling is infectious, so your smile may have just brightened up the day for many other people too, he said.
"Some business leaders take their work very seriously. They think they have to be stern in order to get things done. This can create a culture of control and fear that trickles all the way down through the company, because if the boss is scary, senior managers will be scary, and so on. In such solemn environments, people will be afraid to fail—rather than trying to do new things, they’ll play it safe. If you smile, you’ll encourage your employees to be more open, communicative and innovative too.
"Happy employees mentally clock in at work before they physically clock in because they enjoy their work and it’s a give-and-take pursuit in life, for them.
"Being happy and positive in one’s outlook on work and life has a number of tangible benefits including living longer and healthier. To be happy in the first place, you need to be above poverty line and set realistic goals and expectations in life. Then you need to have positive self-esteem, composure, optimism, outgoingness, supportive friendships, an equitable marriage, challenging work, adequate rest and retreat, he added.
"Social psychologist David G. Myers and many other renowned psychologists have reviewed thousands of recent scientific studies conducted worldwide in search of the key to happiness.
"These findings favour making a change in the way you perceive the phenomenon that most people label as stress. Stress doesn’t exist. Let’s be frank, it’s fear and not stress. So we need to change our attitude to succeed in our quest for happiness. When you are able to correctly perceive where the problems lie and deal with them realistically, you are on the right track to find happiness in you.
"Don’t hide from fears. Cultivate courage. Putting the demands at work, home and society in the correct perspective, and taking everything in stride will make you feel good and that’s what happiness is all about, Adrian said.
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