Develop a competitive advantage starting WITHIN your organization.
Helping your workforce achieve their potential is the right thing to do—both morally and fiscally. Capiche helps businesses gain a competitive advantage by developing the most valuable resources they already have—their employees—to increase productivity, sales, engagement and retention. This can be done with a modest investment of time and resources, yet the returns are fantastic. Time and again, this success has been documented in businesses ranging from insurance sales to high-tech engineering to law enforcement and beyond. The theory of developing employees’ strengths towards a culture of hope, confidence, resilience, optimism and happiness makes sense, and now the benefits have been proven by scientific research.
Read Chris’s Latest Posts
How to Live the Brand—and Play to Your Strengths
Say your company just invested a hefty amount of time and resources in a process to clarify its brand and claim its position in the market. Now that you’ve codified your brand, including your signature strengths, how do you help employees embody those principles on a daily basis? Read more …
The Cinderella Fit: 5 Steps to a Better Brand
Adopting a new brand shouldn’t make you feel like an ugly stepsister squishing her foot into a tiny glass slipper. Rather, you’re looking for that Cinderella fit, a thoughtful melding of truth and optimism that empowers your company to grow into its deeper self. The shoe fits, but your toes still have room to wiggle. Read more …
Six Key Features of the Happiest Workplace on Earth
Let’s pretend you’ve been given carte blanche to design the company of your dreams. What would that company look like? How would you do things differently? Why would your employees look forward to starting work each day? Read more …
How Important Is Leadership—Really?
Leaders define an organization. Leaders inspire employees to achieve terrific heights. Leaders make the difference between success and failure.… Or do they? A recent survey of 1,000 employees suggests otherwise. Read more …
Take a 75% Pay Cut? Are You Kidding?
Last week while visiting Eugene, my friend and I were craving Chinese food. We checked Yelp and found the highest-ranking Chinese restaurant. Driving there in the rain, we were hoping the food would be good. We love Chinese food—good Chinese food. Read more …
Civility Costs Nothing—and Buys Everything
Did you know rudeness at work is raging and is on the rise? According to researchers, 98 percent of workers polled said they experienced rudeness at work—with half of them experiencing it at least once a week, up from 25 percent in 1998. Read more …
What’s the Problem? (No. Strike That.) What’s Working Here?
Since childhood, we’ve been conditioned to look for what’s wrong and try to fix it. In organizations, we often start with looking for the deficits, the weak spots, the challenges—and then have countless committee meetings to study these problem areas. Read more …
10 Things Happy People Do Differently … What Do YOU Do Differently?
I love reading other happiness researchers’ findings, and this article by Paula Davis-Laack resonates with me. While you are reading it, think about how it relates to you. What’s true, and what’s not? What else is there for you? I am curious! Read more …
This Year, Retrain Your Brain! Give Yourself the Happiness Advantage.
Why not start the year with an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that happen—as they happen? Then on New Year’s Eve, empty the jar and recall the year’s best moments. Read more …
What’s Your Theme for 2013?
I wonder how many of us have recently hummed a verse of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” reflecting on whether we’ve been naughty or nice. This led me to my own reflections on the past year. Here are some of the questions that came to my mind that you may enjoy exploring for yourself. Read more …
Creating Your Brand from the Inside Out: Why Your Culture Comes First
Your culture is your brand; your brand is your culture. The two are one and the same—inextricably intertwined. It’s where marketing, positive psychology and innovative business practices intersect. And it’s the common denominator in successful companies. Virgin Atlantic, Apple, Google, Harley Davidson, BMW and Autodesk all have strong brands and strong cultures, and all are wildly successful. Read more …
A New Report on Workplace Happiness
For the second year in a row, the Wall Street Journal’s blog, The Source, has teamed up with the iOpener Institute for People and Performance to find out how happy and fulfilled readers of the Wall Street Journal are at work. The institute has designed a survey to help you establish how happy you are at work. Using this article as a guide, you can figure out how to increase your happiness and be more productive. Read more …
Is Your Work a Test of Endurance or a Labor of Love?
What makes you happy at work? Benefits? Bonuses? Vacations? Well no, actually. The top factors determining a person’s happiness at work are whether they enjoy the actual tasks required, are able to focus on the things they do best and are proud of their employer. Other factors that can impact happiness are relationships at work, the job’s social impact, feeling in control of your work and workplace decisions and feeling like you’re progressing and learning. Read more …
10 Ways to Make Your Life Quite Interesting
This summer, I spent a month traveling through England, Scotland and France (and what a month it was!). One of my favorite days was at the Cornbury Music Festival, where I had the privilege of seeing the fabulous Elvis Costello perform as the headliner. Wow. What a powerhouse! Read more …
Happiness at Work: Not as Scary as You Imagine! (PS: It’s Not Kumbaya Circles)
I urge you to listen to a podcast I was invited to record last week with two fantastic business strategists—Randy Harrington and Carmen Voillequé. I met Randy when he spoke to a group at a Southern Oregon business conference in the fall, and we’ve been in contact ever since. Read more …
What Can a Leadership Coach Do for You?
Think back through your life. As you were growing up, who prodded you toward greatness? Who gave you gentle support while simultaneously challenging you to grow, to stretch? Who offered a candid perspective you could always trust, a wisdom that inspired? Read more …
Learning About Happiness and Company Culture from the Big Dogs
Your culture is your brand; your brand is your culture. The two are one in the same—inextricably intertwined. It’s where marketing, positive psychology and innovative business practices intersect. After spending more than 25 years as a professional marketer, I watched the concept crystallize during two amazing days last week in San Francisco. Read more …
A Night in Paris: Going Beyond My Comfort Zone
“In France, they kiss on Main Street—amour, mama, not cheap display” (as Joni Mitchell would say). Are you living your life within your comfort zone? Most of us are. But try to imagine what is possible when you move beyond your comfort zone. Read more …
What Role Does Happiness Play in the Global Economy? Why the Happy Planet Index Matters
What if you suddenly woke up in a world where natural disasters were celebrated, cancer cases applauded and terrorist attacks cheered on like a sporting event? What if you lived in a society where points were awarded every time a person died? Read more …