Happy Saturday,
​

I've been giving a lot of thought to the conversations I've been having with colleagues about work life these days and the strain of leadership, managing profitability and maintaining a healthy team.
​
Professional spaces and membership organizations like LinkedIn, Chief, vYve, and others talk a lot about leadership skills. ​
​
Communication. Strategy. Accountability. Being Decisive. Emotional intelligence.​
​

Yet we rarely talk about JOY. Not happiness and not fake/toxic positivity or lame team perks, surprise ice cream socials, forced fun with your office mates, or pretending all is well while the world seems so out of control.

I am talking about simple joys that are accessible to every human. In any moment. From anywhere. Things like

Curiosity. Creativity. Connection. Laughter. Nature. Gratitude.​
​

These things make us feel alive—not just with our work, but in our lives. I often say in workshops, to consulting and coaching clients alike, "let's be IN our lives, not OF our lives." So what if we could leverage joy for presence? What if leading with joy actually produced better results?

I've spent years exploring the intersection of joy, leadership and the way we work. I explore a simple framework, 15 practices and back up my theory with neuroscience and positive psychology in my book, JOYHeals™: What If It Could Be Easy?​

​
And the more I explore joy and dig into even more research, the more convinced I am that joy isn't a reward for getting the work done or finishing a hard project. ​
​​
Joy is the fuel. Joy is the balance to the bullshit.​
​

Joy can help us get the work done—with more energy, more creativity, more connection and, yes, more ease. Listen hard things don't automatically become easy. There is nothing magic here. It just means we don't have to drain ourselves in order to be productive, effective leaders. This feels like it matters more than ever.

So many of us are being asked to do more, adapt faster, navigate uncertainty and keep showing up—while simultaneously being told to “bring our best selves” to work and it can feel unsustainable.
​

Maybe the conversation needs to change.Maybe we need to ask:

What if joy actually belongs in the way we work, lead, connect and live?

​
That's the conversation I'm bringing to organizations through interactive lunch & learns and workshops on joy in the workplace. This is an engaging conversation about what joy can look like in the workplace—and what might change when we make a little more room for it. Plus I bring a few interactice practices from the book so everyone can experience joy and the shift in real-time.
​

I'm curious:

What would more joy at work look like for you or your team?
​

Hit reply and tell me. Or, if you'd like to explore bringing a joy + leadership lunch & learn or interactive workshop to your organization, just reply JOY and we'll start a conversation. Or if you're ready to dive in, click here to get on my calendar...I can't wait to connect!

​
I really do believe...

Joy as leadership is something this world needs a whole lot more of.

And maybe it starts with us.

xo, Gabrielle