Leadership Brings Joy at Work

A recent Gallup Healthways survey of 100,000 Americans reveals what we need at work to bring us the most joy, realized through less stress and more health.

The key ingredients: autonomy, influence, and a sense of meaning.

"Supervisors are better-off than the supervised, and entrepreneurs are the best-off of all," remarks Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

"This suggests that exerting leadership is the surest route to joy (other than going fishing). The key is setting the agenda and starting the pieces moving towards a purpose-driven goal. If 90% of success in life is just showing up, Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor advises that when you show up, you might as well run the meeting."