Joy

I'm talking a lot about "joy" these days. Funny for an executive coach to spend so much time on joy, but it really is critical to communicating and leading.

Joy is different from happiness. Happiness is a situational emotion that comes and goes based on the life events we face. Joy is that deep-seated satisfaction with ourselves and our lives that lets us know, no matter what the situation, that we are going to be okay.

When I work with leaders on communication, I don't ask them to follow any specific formula to get their messages across. Instead, I ask them to walk with integrity, to care about the messages they are delivering, and to think about the people they are talking to. Each of these cornerstones of effective communication requires and/or creates joy.

Integrity is manifestation of your values; that alignment makes joy possible. The two richest ways to create joy in your own life are to care about people and to care about your actions. When you have alignment and caring, you have joy and you have the basic recipe for great communication.