𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗼𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗮 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽

𝘉𝘺 𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘬𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘶, 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘯 – 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘵𝘢

After more than four decades of working with leaders and teams across industries, I’ve come to a simple realization: happiness is not a by-product of success—it is the foundation of it.

When teams experience joy in what they do, performance is no longer just about targets; it becomes about meaning, growth, and shared achievement.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗮 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

At the Luthra Group in Surat (luthraindia.com), I had the privilege of working with Sanjay Joshi 1 and his leadership team. Their organization already reflected excellence and Sanjay wanted to go a step further: to make the workplace a source of joy and pride for his people.

During a Winning to Lead session, I asked a question that often unlocks surprising insights:

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵?”

The answers were inspiring. One member spoke about the pride of contributing to projects that touch the community. Another described the joy of helping a colleague grow in confidence. Before long, the session turned into a celebration of purpose-driven moments.

Sanjay built on this momentum by weaving these stories into weekly conversations. Meetings began highlighting not only numbers, but also human “wins” that reflected values, learning, and collaboration. The transformation was visible—𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺’𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱.

One team member put it beautifully: “𝘚𝘪𝘳, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.”

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿

Happiness at work does more than create smiles—it drives measurable excellence:

• 𝗜𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 — people naturally gravitate to positive environments.

• 𝗜𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 — ideas flow when people feel valued and secure.

• 𝗜𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 — challenges are easier to overcome with optimism.

• 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 — leaders who nurture joy earn trust and commitment.

As the Bhagavad Gita reminds us: “𝘺𝘢𝘥 𝘺𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘩𝘢, 𝘵𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘰 𝘫𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘩” — 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗳𝘂𝗹. 𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲.

𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲

Introducing happiness into the workplace doesn’t require grand initiatives. It begins with everyday choices:

• 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 – Open meetings with a simple note of appreciation.

• 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 – Celebrate experiences that reflect values, not just outcomes.

• 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 – Acknowledge effort and learning, not only results.

At Born to Win, we call this the “𝗜 𝗖𝗮𝗻, 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻, 𝗪𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗻” cycle. When happiness is shared, individual strength turns into collective excellence.

𝗔 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

This week, I invite you to ask your team:

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭?”

Then listen—really listen—and celebrate the answers. You’ll notice how quickly the atmosphere shifts when people feel seen, valued, and connected.

At Born to Win, our belief is simple: organizations don’t just grow through strategies—they grow through joy.

If you’d like to explore how happiness can reshape your workplace, write to me at ramseshu@borntowin.co.in. I’d love to hear your story.

Let’s make joy not the outcome of work, but its starting point.

What’s one joyful ritual you’d like to bring into your workplace?

#𝗝𝗼𝘆𝗔𝘁𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 #𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 #𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 #𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 #𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗧𝗼𝗪𝗶𝗻