Hello,
In this blog, I want to share with you—as the director or owner of a school, sports center, or art school—a crucial topic for your leadership: success and happiness. This topic is not only relevant to educational management but is also part of the leadership curriculum. Personally, in my leadership classes at the high school and college levels, I devote several sessions to exploring this topic. I’m sure that, like me, you also consider this topic important for your students, athletes, or artists. Therefore, I hope to offer you a perspective that you’ll find interesting and useful for your professional practice.
My inspiration for writing this blog post comes from a news story I saw on CNN a few weeks ago. Andrés Oppenheimer had released his book titled *Salir del Pozo* in 2023, which focuses on happiness. The news story highlighted the book’s importance and solid research. Previously, I had read his book *Basta de Historias*, which deals with education in various countries, including Mexico. I highly recommend this book if you haven’t read it yet. A few months ago, I decided to buy *Salir del Pozo* on Amazon after finding it out of stock at several bookstores. I read it with great interest and join CNN in congratulating Oppenheimer on his excellent research and work.
Below, I’d like to share the key lessons I learned about leadership and happiness, thanks to Oppenheimer, in the hope that these insights will be useful to you in your educational work with students, artists, and/or athletes.
First, I’ve noticed at various conferences and at institutions like PrepaW that what Oppenheimer says about happiness is alarming: fewer and fewer people feel happy. According to studies by Gallup, 1 in 3 people surveyed worldwide report feeling unhappy, expressing anger, frustration, sadness, or worry. Furthermore, this figure has been on the rise and is even more serious among young people, with an epidemic of depression in high schools.
To address these results as leaders, I have been reflecting on and analyzing the situation based on what I read in the book, and I believe we could take the following actions, based on the research mentioned:
Motivating our students to strive: Encouraging our students—whether athletes or artists—to give their all in their endeavors. Effort not only leads to better results but also contributes to their happiness. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes this state as “flow”—moments of happiness that we should help them experience as often as possible.
Reducing Envy: Work to reduce levels of envy among our young people. Envy is a factor that diminishes happiness, and in times of crisis, selfishness increases. As educators, we must prevent envy and promote practices that teach the opposite.
Prioritize their happiness: Understand that the happiness of our young people is the key to their success. We must first focus on making them happy through innovative educational practices tailored to their generation, and success will follow. Second, the way we teach is fundamental to the happiness and success of our young people. Bill Gates states that educational excellence is linked to the quality of teachers and a passion for education. Let’s make sure we have the best teachers possible and that each of them teaches with passion in their daily work. Here are some suggestions:
Teaching Tolerance for Failure: Innovation arises after a series of failures. We must teach our students to cope with failure, appreciate the good things in life, and nurture their relationships with others. Tolerance for failure should be an integral part of education and, therefore, an integral part of every teacher’s subject.
Telling Good Stories: Teaching should be rooted in our young people’s stories and connect with the stories we tell them. Replacing theory with stories or incorporating stories into subject instruction can enhance learning and understanding, regardless of the discipline. Including the Topic of Happiness in the Curriculum: Increasing happiness improves performance, reduces bullying, and improves physical health. We must include the study and practice of happiness in our educational curriculum.
Teaching Tolerance for Failure: Innovation arises after a series of failures. We must teach our students to cope with failure, appreciate the good things in life, and nurture their relationships with others. Tolerance for failure should be an integral part of education and, therefore, an integral part of every teacher’s subject.
Finally, Aristotle said more than 2,000 years ago that happiness is the deepest desire of human beings, and the Dalai Lama, in his book *The Art of Happiness*, emphasizes that the main purpose of life is happiness. Therefore, our practices must ensure that our young people are happier. Consider the following practices:
Creating a Safe Environment: Ensuring that every young person feels safe and trusted. Happiness boosts self-confidence and energy. It is essential to foster and maintain this environment in our institutions.
Fostering Human Relationships and a Sense of Purpose: Daniel Kahneman, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics, points out that money contributes to happiness up to a certain point. Beyond that, factors such as human relationships, mutual trust, contact with nature, and a sense of purpose come into play. Make sure these elements are present in your teaching.
Monitor potential loneliness among some of your students: Loneliness reduces life satisfaction. Those with strong emotional bonds are happier and live longer. We must ensure that our young people maintain positive emotional bonds within our institutions.
In conclusion, we all need a sense of belonging and a purpose in life. Our daily work in teaching, coaching, and rehearsals must deeply and seriously integrate these factors. The inspiration and content of this blog post cover only a portion of the lessons in the book *Salir del Pozo*. If you find this post interesting and think you could implement some of the practices presented here, I hope to write soon about the rest of the book so that you, too, can benefit from them.