FEATURED ARTICLE
Tapping Your FUN Quotient to Bring Your SUCCESS Quotient! Written By Cindy Henson
Cynthia (Cindy) Henson, Chief Executive Officer of Henson Consulting Group
Here it is.
Fun is the number-one reason I fly Southwest Airlines. Nobody made flying more fun than its founder, Herb Kelleher, who regrettably died recently. (And on most airlines these days, flying is most decidedly not fun.) Kelleher was known for laughing, cracking jokes, drinking bourbon, and smoking cigarettes. Often, he would be seen on a plane dressed as Elvis. Famous for his antics, he also achieved the near-miraculous, building a consistently profitable airline—one that carried the most passengers in the US in 2016.
If you want to be more successful at work, you must have more fun.
Success Follows Fun
I am about to share what may be some important, perhaps difficult, information for you to accept. What I am about to suggest is some of the most valuable advice I give everyone I work with. I’m giving it to you here for free.
Fun is not frivolous. It is not an indulgence. It is not to be relegated to the weekend or an occasional laugh. Fun is the first step on the path to success. Research shows that we are our best—our most creative, flexible, and persistent—when we are engaged in activities that bring us fun.
Few have experienced greater business success than Richard Branson, who is known for valuing fun at work (who also founded an airline, but also jumpstarted some five hundred successful businesses). “Fun is one of the most important—and underrated—ingredients in any successful venture,” Branson wrote in The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership. “If you’re not having fun, then it’s probably time to call it quits and try something else.” Making it Fun
Happiness Brings Success! Shawn Achor, who wrote The Happiness Advantage, proved it. He found that success doesn’t bring happiness. Instead, happiness brings success. He found in studying students at Harvard that those who studied longer to master the stressful, competitive environment burned out faster. Those who took time for fun—particularly time for friends— were more successful.
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Fun comes first. That’s why “Tap into Your Fun Quotient” is the first of my Seven Principles to Peace, Purpose, and Freedom. I even dare to say that if it isn’t fun, I won’t do it. That doesn’t mean I don’t work hard, that I don’t take on tough tasks, or that I will bypass a challenge. It means I always find a way to make my work fun. Here is how I do it: I set an intention to have fun. That’s it. Intention always creates. Then I look for ways to make even the most difficult situations and tasks much more enjoyable. I have found that when one person—even if it is just me—is determined to have fun, others will join in.