Happiness vs Satisfaction

I attended the Sobey Leadership Forum last Friday in Halifax where the speakers spoke a lot about motivating people.

One of my key takeaways was the difference between happiness and satisfaction. My job as an organizational leader, they said, is not to make people happy. Unfortunately, we (and I) get trapped in the very human desire of wanting to make people happy. Satisfaction happens from a job well done, by pushing people to do more than they realized. The process of accomplishing a task may actually evoke quite the opposite emotion to happiness – especially when pushing someone beyond their comfort zone.

Thinking about it from a nonprofit context is interesting too. Unlike a private company, the people I think about are not only staff but volunteers and participants. The democratic nature of leadership required in nonprofits is critical as satisfaction is greater when someone is involved from the inspiration ideation stage to final product or service. Often this isn`t possible or necessary, but there are times when it`s an absolute must.

I've been thinking about the role of self-awareness and social intelligence in satisfaction. If one thinks they are being pushed beyond their limits and does a good job, than satisfaction is apt to be high. If one feels underutilized, they will be frustrated, even if the job is done well.

The leader needs to have an acute understanding of not only the abilities of team members but also the perception of abilities. Not an easy task. Probably why it`s better instead to create a process with checks along the way to refine self-awareness, increase competency and do a great job.