THE BILLION-DOLLAR UPSIDE OF BEING HAPPY
How Joy Fuels Explosive Growth
3-Minute Read
Picture a business that thrives, a team that shines, and a life that feels free. The key? Happiness—but not the fluffy kind. No, this is happiness that drives results.
Early in HubSpot’s rise, co-founder Dharmesh Shah published a manifesto called the Culture Code, codifying happiness into the company DNA. It wasn’t about perks or ping-pong tables; it was about autonomy, purpose, and psychological safety.
Years later, the results speak for themselves: A $30B+ valuation. Ranked #1 on Glass Door’s Best Places to Work. And a company that hasn’t just grown, but has endured with soul.
This week in The Grip, we’re unpacking what visionary leaders like Shah have powerfully demonstrated: happiness isn’t a perk; it’s a performance tool.
Get ready to discover how joy fuels clarity, momentum, retention, and scalable impact—and how to lead from it, not toward it.
Let’s dive in.
what is happiness—really?
Happiness: the original human obsession—and still one of our most misunderstood assets. Across time and tradition, the wisest minds have tried to pin it down. Is it peace? Pleasure? Virtue? Fulfillment?
Let’s look through four useful lenses to see what they each reveal about the nature of happiness.
Eastern Wisdom, such as Buddhism and ancient Hebrew, roots happiness in inner alignment. It’s peace, not pleasure. It is a soul in sync with divine order, or a mind liberated from craving or desire.
Western Wisdom, as articulated by Aristotle, calls it eudaimonia—flourishing through a life of virtue. Happiness isn’t a mood; it is a full-bodied existence lived with excellence.
Stoicism—a unique spin on western philosophy—defines happiness as inner self-mastery. It’s the calm that comes from focusing only on what you can control and practicing virtue no matter the storm.
Psychology fuses science and soul: happiness is a blend of joy, meaning, relationships, and achievement. It’s not the absence of struggle; it’s creating one’s own fulfillment while pursuing what matters.
Across these perspectives, one principle repeats: Happiness is an inside job; it can be practiced through the choices you make and the lens you use to look at life. Happiness isn’t something you chase. It’s something you cultivate.
The ROI Of Happiness In Leadership
Happiness isn’t just good for your soul—it’s incredibly good for business.
✅ 13% boost in productivity: Oxford researchers found happier employees work faster, better, and more creatively—without longer hours.
✅ Sales surge: At BT Group, joyful reps outsold others by 13%. Optimists in sales? They crush pessimists by 20–40%.
✅Innovation edge: Happiness expands your cognitive range. Teams in high-joy environments generate more ideas, better collaboration, and bolder pivots.
✅ Retention advantage: Happy workplaces slash turnover by up to 59%, saving millions in rehiring and compounding institutional knowledge.
Happy people are more resilient. More focused. More magnetic.
And happy leaders? They inspire loyalty, spark creativity, and longevity. They don’t just grow companies. They grow people. Happiness is a leadership multiplier.
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Cultivating Happiness
No circumstance will “make” you happy; not for long anyway. I say this often—happiness is not a place to get to; it’s a place to come from. Don’t wait to “get happy;” create happiness instead.
Be responsible for cultivating happiness at work and home as the Chief Happiness Officer of your life; bring it to your leadership, relationships, health, and productivity.
Here’s how to get started:
1. Master Your Language
Your internal narrative is either building joy or draining it.
This week, catch and rewrite one disempowering thought each day. Turn “I have to get through this week” into “I get to lead, serve, and create today.”
2. Gratitude = Brain Fuel
It’s not pseudoscience; it’s neuroscience. A 2-minute daily gratitude ritual rewires your brain for optimism, resilience, and creative flow.
3. Grow On Purpose
Happiness correlates with growth. When you’re evolving, expanding, and stretching toward your potential, joy results as a natural byproduct. Research shows that intentional growth—whether it’s skill-building, personal breakthroughs, or physical vitality—is directly linked to higher life satisfaction and resilience.
This week, identify one area where you feel stagnant. Then invest 30 minutes in forward movement: take a course, set a physical challenge, or revisit a dormant dream.
4. Multiply by Subtracting
Happiness isn’t always about more. Often, satisfaction increases in relationship to what you remove. Subtracting noise, urgency, and overcommitment creates space where clarity, peace, and innovation can thrive.
This week, cancel one non-essential commitment. Create white space in your calendar and watch what multiplies in its place.
5. Lead with Generosity
Happiness expands when you give. Whether you’re mentoring a colleague, surprising a client, or volunteering your time, giving connects you to something bigger than your bottom line.
At Tito’s Vodka, every employee gets a joy budget (funded by company profits) to give back to the communities of their choice. Cool practice.
This week, ask: Where can I offer what I have? Even a small act of generosity can open the floodgates of fulfillment.
“Happiness isn’t just good for your soul—it’s incredibly good for business.”
Happiness isn’t a luxury. It’s your leadership edge. It’s how you outlast burnout, unlock genius, and lead in a way that actually feels good. The most impactful founders, creators, and leaders don’t chase fulfillment—they create from it.
You don’t have to overhaul your life to cultivate happiness; you just have to practice it on purpose.
Pick one shift above. Do it daily. Watch your joy increase.
So let this be your reminder:
Happiness isn’t a reward for performance; it’s a practice that fuels it. It will empower you to create more than enough, nothing missing, & never too much of everything that matters to you.
Keep creating!
key takeaways
Why should leaders prioritize happiness over hustle?
Because happy leaders make better decisions, build stronger teams, and scale more sustainably.
What are the business benefits of happiness in leadership
Increases productivity by 13%, boosts sales by up to 40%, and slashes turnover by nearly 60%.
How can leaders cultivate happiness as a strategy?
Through intentional practices like mastering internal language, daily gratitude, growth challenges, subtracting stress, and leading with generosity.
May you prosper in every way!
Becky & TPL Team
52 Maxims of Conscious Choosing To Create the Deeply Satisfying Life You Desire.