The Levity Effect – Nonprofits, You Can Learn From This Book
by Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher
Have you ever have a boss that breathed down your neck?
Have you ever felt micromanaged?
Have you ever had a supervisor blow up if you made the slightest error?
Everyone has horror stories of leaders who led poorly—leaders who killed our passion and made the hours crawl by. I believe nothing damages the productivity or morale of a workplace more than the tone set by the CEO.
One thing I committed to early on was that I would NOT do many of the things I had seen done poorly as I climbed the corporate ladder. I’ve translated that into my leadership throughout the year and most recently at Soles4Souls. I know that what I do impacts everyone.
Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher wrote a book called The Levity Effect that studied how the effects of fun in the workplace lead to greater organizational success. You should consider adding this book to your “to read” list.
To test your own “workplace levity,” see how many of the following you can check off.
- New employees are made to feel welcome
- Meetings are positive and light
- We have fun activities at least once a month
- It’s common to hear people laughing around here
- I can be myself at work
- We have a lot of celebrations for special events
- When brainstorming, we like to have fun
- My boss is usually optimistic and smiling
- Customers would call us fun to do business with
- I have a friend at work who makes me laugh
- We have a good time together
It’s important that we incorporate as many of these as possible into what we do. Culture is a game-changer, especially when the pace of a nonprofit often moves at breakneck speed.
How is your attitude and posture influencing the people who work for your organization?
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