Luis Gallardo, president of the World Happiness Foundation, recommends leaders reconnecting in order to create happier environments.
If you want to be a good boss, you have to begin by reconnecting with yourself. (Photo: iStock)
More than 80% of people don’t find happiness at work. The main reason for people leaving their jobs is their direct boss. Do you identify with this?
Why do direct bosses affect employee happiness so much? According to Luis Gallardo, President of the World Happiness Foundation, this is because leaders are stressed and are unable to connect with themselves and others.
“They are overwhelmed by their emotions, have a feeling of inner emptiness, and feel out of touch with others,” he explained during his Wellbeing 360 Forum masterclass, organized by Tec de Monterrey’s Tec Milenio university.
Read more: What types of wellbeing are there?
Luis Gallardo participated in the Wellbeing 360 Forum (Photo: Screenshot Wellbeing 360)
For Luis Gallardo, founder of the World Happiness Festival held every March 20, the problem is one of disconnection. You need happytalism to achieve happiness at work.
How do you describe it? When there’s a connection with yourself, society, and the natural world.
“Happy people add value and make the world both inclusive and supportive. People who are disconnected live with constant stress, are overwhelmed by their emotions, have a feeling of inner emptiness, and feel out of touch with others,” he said.
The answer −he explained− is reconnecting with yourself, embracing pain, helping others, being grateful, and having a mindset that will allow you to enjoy life.
According to Gallardo, people also become disconnected with society. When we give and help others, we multiply our possibilities, and the result is happiness.
But we’ve somehow forgotten about this and have become individualistic. “There is a bridge between feeling, fulfillment, and flourishing. We need to help others achieve their goals,” he said.
The third kind of disconnection is with the natural world. He explained that civilization started out with people being at one with nature, but there came a point where we began to extract resources and use nature instead of being part of it.
“We have to reconnect with nature in a symbiotic way. You will become a happytalist by reconnecting with these three concepts,” he concluded.
