THE SAFARI WAY TO BE HAPPIER AT WORK
Formats: Keynote, breakout or workshop – live, virtual or hybrid
Sample audiences: All-organization and all-team groups
Sample events: Team events, new employee orientation, association conferences
Steve Fredlund is a long-time actuarial leader who analyzed data on more than 150,000 global employees. The analysis is clear: our happiness at work is not tied to our manager or the success of the company – and it’s also not tied to our pay, bonuses, benefits, flexibility or recognition.
Wait, what? We love those things! Surely they make us happier! Well, we prefer them; all things equal we want more of them; and while they may give us a momentary excitement, they do not actually change our happiness. They do not make us more productive or engaged or cause us to stick around longer.
So what is it? What drives our happiness at work? Alignment and connection.
We become happier when we are excited about the organization’s vision and values; or when our job responsibilities are aligned with our strengths and passions. We are happier when we feel connected to the organization or team’s mission, feeling like we are an important part of something bigger than ourselves. We are happy when we feel connected to other people in the organization; a sense of belonging; a sense of mutual caring and respect.
Alignment and connection are what driver our happiness which results in greater productivity, engagement and retention. Our happiness is not tied up as much as we think in the success of the company, our manager, or our pay, bonuses, benefits, flexibility or recognition. The data could not be more clear. Our happiness is tied to our alignment and connection.
So, if you want to be happier – it’s time to work on alignment and connection. That is The Safari Way – along with accepting the reality that, like every safari, our work is going to be filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, knowns and unknowns. Trying to insulate ourselves from that is ultimately going to create great unhappiness, but this is the very nature of a safari (both in Africa and at work), and it is unavoidable.
The happiest people lean into the ups and downs, recognizing it is just part of the nature of work. And rather than avoiding it or getting frustrated by it, happier people realize that it comes with the territory when you are living an epic adventure. There would not be epic stories and heroes without the ups and downs, highs and lows and unknowns. Happier people embrace the swings as part of their great epic adventure. It’s the same for us at work – rather than cursing the swings, embrace them; accept them; lean into them – yes, solve them as best you can, but know that’s what make you heroic and your story epic!
Steve is known as “The Safari Dude” because he has led several safari trips to Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. He learned the importance of clarity, intentionality and accepting the unexpected on these African safaris; the same traits that brought him success in Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits and entrepreneurial endeavors.
Throughout this fun and energetic presentation, Steve uses engaging stories from the Serengeti to relay critical insights about how we can become happier at work.
The Safari Way is a movement of individuals, teams and organizations around the world who are finding greater happiness and success. Through the lens of an African safari, Steve shares insights from his research as an HR actuary through the lens of his epic travel adventures. HIs speaking motivates and empowers audiences to become personally more happy and collectively more collaborative and effective.
After the talk, the audience will:
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Understand the real reasons why they like some jobs and not others
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Recognize the key drivers of their happiness and unhappiness at work
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Be equipped to know how to increase their happiness at work
