It really took a wonderful mentor one day who
stopped into my office at 10:00 PM and he
said, why are you still here?
I said I have all these emails, and he
said we're not curing cancer.
If you leave five unread emails, it'll be there tomorrow.
[AUDIO LOGO]
Was there a time when maybe you were in a work environment that
didn't seem that positive?
Were you in a situation like that,
and how did you overcome it?
What kind of changes did you make?
I have seen all kinds, all kinds of work dynamics.
We were in a meeting--
partners were in a meeting discussing promotion
of a potential employee.
And one of the partners said, I just
don't think she looks like a leader,
and I could tell based on my personal life experience based
on experiences on that company that it
wasn't based on the merit of her work,
but based on other things.
And that moment, I had two choices--
I could stay quiet, or I could say something.
And I had made the mistake of staying quiet too many times
before.
So I started listing all of the performance attributes
that this employee demonstrated, the significant goals and gains
that she had secured for our firm.
And I don't know if that was what made the difference
or if it was something else, but the fact
that I said something to try to pinpoint to everyone
else in that room what was actually going on,
made me at least feel like I was doing my job,
to showing up as a colleague, as well as a leader.
Sometimes it just takes a little bit of your own experience
and advocating on someone's behalf.
Actually, Indeed is doing a study of working
well-being, the things factors that go into it.
And you inclusion and belonging in the study, they're huge.
In your opinion, how do we ensure that this even happens?
How do we ensure that people feel this when
they go into their workplace?
I think it's changing, but I think
it's really important to retrain leaders.
What the workforce values right now
is very different than what it valued 10, 20 years ago.
And slowly but surely, major corporations, major law firms
are catching up to the fact that if you
want to stay at the top of your game, you need the best talent.
That talent has the pick of employers.
And so you need to create this infrastructure where they
feel invested in the workplace.
They feel valued, and they feel safe.
Most of all, they feel like they can bring their personal selves
into the office every now and then.
Because without that, you're just
not going to get the very best of the badge.
So what I'm hearing is bring back casual Fridays, right?
[LAUGHTER]
Pajamas at work now.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
If you're looking for a new job and you
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you're seriously missing out.
Click the link below, or search Indeed in the App Store.
[END PLAYBACK]
Well, you know Indeed research also shows
that stress is another leading factor in this.
And so do you think it's more on an individual employee's plate
to manage their stress?
Or can they contribute to a less stressful work environment
for all, what are your thoughts on this?
If you're not stressed a little bit,
it means you're probably bored, and not being challenged.
But if you're are so stressed that you're not
eating, that it's building up in your body
and you're just working around the clock,
not sleeping, then that is a different issue.
And I know this from personal experience.
It really took a wonderful mentor,
one day who stopped into my office at 10:00 PM
and he said why are you still here?
I said I have all these emails, and he
said we're not curing cancer.
If you leave five unread emails, it'll be there tomorrow.
Right, that reminder really helps.
So I think it's a balance of leadership sending
the right messaging in and employees
taking that in and integrating it into their lives.
You know we can't talk about happiness without mentioning
or bringing up compensation.
That goes along with it, for sure.
And for many workers negotiating their pay be stressful.
Doesn't bring happiness because it's very intimidating to go in
and say, hey, look, I think I'm worth more.
Absolutely.
I mean, if you don't feel safe saying maybe
we can have free coffee on Friday mornings,
I don't think you're going to feel safe
going into your boss's office and saying I deserve a raise.
It goes hand in hand, but at the same time,
I think the opacity in pay, how different employees
of the same level may be paid very different amounts.
That is something that management can fix.
Management can be more transparent.
And on this realm, I think it's important to also bring up
implicit bias.
I mean, research shows that across race and gender,
there are just huge disparities.
That need to be addressed and still
have yet to be looked at really critically.
Do you think happiness and success actually
go hand in hand when we're talking about this.
Can you be successful without being happy?
Is that even a possibility?
I do think it goes hand in hand.
But that said, I don't think of success as a destination.
If we all look at ourselves as a constantly evolving creatures,
which we all are, what was success for us
yesterday, a year ago, five years ago,
might be very different today.
And that's how it should be.
So I think it's natural for certain steps of that success
journey for you to maybe confront unhappiness.
And as long as that unhappiness is temporary
and you feel agency to address it,
whether that is bringing it up in your workplace,
or whether that is looking for a new job that
will carry you to a place where you should find happiness.
So the overall arc should be happiness for success
but not always.