In the wake of yet another grim headline, I walked into a meeting smiling. Not because I was indifferent and not because I wasn’t paying attention, but because something genuinely joyful had happened in my life, and it showed.
I didn’t apologize. I didn’t second-guess it. Because I’ve come to believe this: Joy isn’t a liability. It’s a form of leadership.
And right now, more than ever, leaders need to stop treating joy like a guilty pleasure and start embracing it as a strategic, human and values-based imperative.
Stifling joy saps energy
There’s no denying the heaviness around us: global crises, political polarization, racial injustice, gun violence and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Some of it is global and national, but some of it, like fire and floods, can be deeply local, playing out in the very states where our teams live, work and raise families.
As leaders, we feel that weight. We hold it in boardrooms, brainstorms, Team threads and side conversations. And often, we wonder: Is it appropriate to smile today? To celebrate a win? To feel good when so many other people don’t?
This isn’t about being performative. It’s about being human.
Joy doesn’t ignore the pain of others. But it does remind us that we’re still here. That we’re still capable of connection, creativity and care. That even in the midst of suffering, people need moments of relief, levity and light.
When we hold back joy entirely, we risk draining the energy we need to keep going.
Making room for joy doesn’t mean we minimize what’s happening in the world. It means we recognize our full emotional range and honor the truth that people can grieve and hope, cry and laugh, all in the same hour.
Read more from Aaron’s Op-Ed for Ad Age HERE.