Appreciations
“I think the work world is ripe for topics such as this book. With profit being the driving force behind many successful businesses, it is easy for us to become confused and think that more money or power is what makes us happy. If that were true, the richest and most powerful among us would be the happiest. We need only live this way for a short while to see that happiness does not come from feeding our desires and rejecting our aversions. As we come to realize this in our personal and family lives, we may experience an incongruency with how we feel we must act at work. In Happy at Home, Happy at Work , Susanne offers a clear and straightforward way for us to cultivate specific character traits that lead to happiness, allowing our personal and work lives to reflect the strength and congruency that come when we live from our deepest values.”
~ John Cunningham, Director of Advanced Process Services, The RoviSys Company
“Freud had it right: humans need success in BOTH Love and Work to be happy and fulfilled. It's great to have a book that not only helps us stay mindful about the necessity to maintain balance in these two vital areas but that also gives us ‘crossover' tools that work in both arenas.”
~ Diane Sollee, Founder and Director of smartmarriages.com
“In this readily accessible and enlightening resource, Susanne Alexander brings together research and knowledge from a wide variety of fields. She elaborates a reasoned and logical case for what business leaders already know intuitively about workers with character qualities like honesty, commitment, trustworthiness, love, excellence, and more. These individuals can better navigate the worlds of work and home, and they have a positive impact on both. This book is a must-read for people who know that balancing their total lives yields happiness and greater results for their families and workplaces.”
~ Matthew D. Turvey, Psy.D., L.P., Coauthor of Marriage and Family Wellness: Corporate America 's Business?; Director of Strategic Alliances, Life Innovations
"Examining the link between life satisfaction and work satisfaction is an important area of research and application. And, viewing every employee as a whole individual with richness in every facet of life is vital to long-term organizational success. Thank goodness a resource like this one is now available. This book will certainly enrich the life of every reader and organization that chooses to use it systematically.”
~ Johanna Merritt Wu, Ph.D., Organizational Development Consultant; a former VP of Human Resources and VP of Quality at GE Capital
Table of Contents
Foreword: Cathy L. Greenberg, Ph.D.,
Certified Personal and Executive Coach
Introduction: Do You Want to Be Happy?
PART 1: Exploring Character and Happiness
1: The Art of Creating Happiness
- Being Happy at Home
- Being Happy at Work
- Discovering Your Happiness Tools
2: What Is Character?
3: The Language of Character Development
- Strengths
- Areas That Need Strengthening
- Misuse of Character Strengths
4: Character Development
5: Character Qualities for Creating Happiness at Home and at Work
6: The Importance of Character at Home
7: The Importance of Character at Work
- Offering Customer Service Excellence
- Character and Ethics
- Work Choices Affect Home Life
8: Making Character-Based Choices at Home
9: Making Character-Based Choices at Work
10: The Power of Words
- Negative Words at Home and at Work
- Criticism
- Backbiting, Gossip, and Slander
- Positive Words at Home and at Work
- Appreciation
- Tone of Voice
11: The Power of Actions
12: Understanding and Developing Your Character
- Understanding Self-Assessment
- When to Assess Yourself
- Challenges with Assessing and Developing Yourself
- Choosing to Change for the Better
- Responding to Feedback
- Assessing My Character (worksheet)
- Developing My Character (worksheet)
- Assessing My Misuse of Character Qualities (worksheet)
13: Success Strategies
- Focus on Your Strengths
- Try New Activities and Experiences
- Persevere
- Obtain Help and Guidance from Others
- Respond Effectively to Challenges
- Lighten Up
- Recover from Poor Choices
- Influence the Culture of Home and Work
- Create Goals with Clear Action Steps
Part 2 : Experiencing the Powerful Rewards of Building Character
Overview
Using the Character Quality Descriptions
Setting Goals and Reminders
1 – Commitment
2 – Cooperation
3 – Courtesy
4 – Excellence
5 – Faithfulness
6 – Friendliness
7 – Helpfulness
8 – Honesty
9 – Love
10 – Moderation
11 – Patience
12 – Respect
13 – Responsibility
14 – Trustworthiness
15 – Truthfulness
Appendix 1: Expanded List of Character Qualities
Appendix 2: Corporate and Relational Wellness Statement
Appendix 3: About Character Quality Enterprises
Sample Content:
Part 1, Chapter 9: Making Character-Based Choices at Work
Part 2, Quality of Honesty
Note: These links are to downloadable pdf files.
For Companies/Organizations
What immediate results would your company or organization achieve if employees were happier and thriving—both at work and at home ? Wouldn't these employees generate increased profits and better relationships with coworkers, customers, and family members ? Happy at Home, Happy at Work is:
- An interactive book of tools that helps employees discover and implement the foundation steps to achieving happiness in all areas of their lives
- A guide to increasing productivity and saving your company or organization money by encouraging character skill assessment, development, and application
Employees who master a skill at home will confidently transfer the use of that skill to the workplace and produce greater results . As employees practice their new character strengths at home, benefits accrue there as well. Happy and healthy relationships result in more focused and healthier employees. Wouldn't your company or organization benefit from reduced use of sick days and increased well-being of your staff?
Happy at Home, Happy at Work provides structured exercises that help readers set and achieve personal development goals with no training program required. Employees learn to increase behaviors that produce benefit , such as cooperation, while avoiding those that cause harm, such as gossip and backbiting. To assure a greater depth of learning, humorous cartoons and insightful quotations from business leaders reinforce the messages. We can all be more effective and get the true results we seek when we develop responsibility, excellence, and commitment, to name a few of the character strengths described in this book.
You can show employees the vital importance of healthy relationships and wise character choices by providing copies of Happy at Home, Happy at Work to all current staff, new hires, and managers. Human resources and training personnel can provide the book as stand-alone tool, as a supplement to class training, or as part of employee-development training. Think of the boost to your marketing plans and the excitement of your customers if you offer this book as a giveaway or provide the opportunity to buy it at a discount or as part of a special program. Sharing this book with others will enhance your reputation as a company or organization. Since this book is fully customizable , copies can include:
- Company logo and name
- Personal message from management
- Character qualities and dilemmas relevant to your specific company or organization
or whatever would enhance this product for you. Consider what a unique business card this would make for some people. We will also determine a mutually agreeable charity to benefit from transactions.
Have you ever noticed an employee who looks drained at the start of the day and wondered if he/she is experiencing problems in a personal relationship? Have you seen how other workers, who are in great relationships or marriages, are energized and fully engaged in their work? How much absenteeism, tardiness, or reduced productivity are you paying for because of relationship stresses? How often are workers physically present but mentally absent? What about work quality, timeliness, or the effect of moodiness on coworkers and customers? Research shows that employees in successful relationships are “more stable, more committed to their employer, and are often considered more dependable and motivated.” Happy at Home, Happy at Work provides easy-to-use ideas that can result in almost immediate changes in how employees speak, act, and represent your company or organization.
The producer of this book is Character Quality Enterprises , a Cleveland, Ohio-based service of Marriage Transformation LLC. The author, Susanne M. Alexander, is a relationship, marriage, and character coach. She develops educational materials to help individuals, couples, corporations, and organizations utilize character growth practices in relationships, marriages, the workplace, and daily life. Susanne has over 20 years of business experience and has written many business-trend and in-depth articles for Newsweek and Crain's Cleveland Business . She is a member of Toastmasters International and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Website: www.characterquality.com ;
Phone: 216-383-9943 or 800-501-6682
Corporate and Relational Wellness Statement
Executive Summary from: “ Marriage & Family Wellness: Corporate America's Business? (Copyright © 2006 Life Innovations, Inc.; Included as an Appendix in the book with permission)
While traditionally the world of business and the world of marriage and family relationships have remained disconnected, it is clear they have a major impact on each other. Building marriage and family wellness improves a company's overall financial health, while ignoring these opportunities can decrease a company's profitability.
American trends in marriage and family life are changing rapidly. Over 90% of all Americans will marry at some point in their lives, yet almost 50% of these relationships end in dissolution, and cohabitation is quickly becoming the norm for couples of all ages. Marriage, however, still confers certain unique benefits on participants. Based on a wealth of academic research, married people tend to have healthier lifestyles, live longer, have more satisfying sexual relationships, have more economic assets, and have children that tend to do better academically and emotionally.
Employees in failing relationships cost employers money. There are substantial productivity declines for workers in failing relationships. These workers often have serious health concerns: increased stress and anxiety, increased rates of depression, and increased rates of substance abuse. These workers directly cost companies in higher healthcare expenditures and indirectly through societal effects of broken families.
Conversely, employees in successful relationships increase profits for their employers. These workers are more stable, more committed to their employer, and are often considered more dependable and motivated. Employees in healthy relationships are also physically healthier, experiencing fewer chronic health problems like stress, anxiety, and depression, saving companies money in overall health care expenditures.
When companies invest in the physical and relational wellness of their workers, returns on investment can range between $1.50 and $6.85 for every dollar spent on these types of programs. Relationships are no longer only the realm of clergy, counselors, and EAPs (Employee Assistance Programs). Companies wanting to increase their profitability will do well to realize that business takes place in the boardroom and the family room. It is in every company's best financial interest to understand how marriage and family wellness affect their business and to invest in the promotion of relational wellness.
To order copies of the complete report, you can contact Life Innovations at 800-331-1661 or through their website, www.prepare-enrich.com. You can also download a free pdf file of the report at
http://www.prepare-enrich.com/research.cfm?id=177.
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