The Wheel of Happiness- Finding our purpose at work as CAs: A perspective on Positive Organizational Behavior

Why happiness at work is relevant

Happiness at the workplace is seldom considered a measure for organizational performance. In our quest for happiness in life, we often forget that the time we spend at work constitutes a significant part of our day. Therefore, it is important to be happy at work as what we feel during the major part of the day will determine how we feel about life in general. A business cannot be construed as successful solely by the measure of it\'s profits and returns. Enterprises do not run on their own. They exist and perform due to collective human effort. Human beings drive organizational changes and policies. They are at the core of successful organizational functioning. If an enterprise has to flourish, it\'s constituent members must also thrive and be happy at an individual level. Happiness at work is relevant for Chartered Accountants today if they are to achieve success in entirety as professionals. Finance professionals, whether working in industry at various levels of the organizational hierarchy or helming small, mid or big sized firms must possess an inner compass that guides them to gratifying careers.

Happiness is a basic human need, the very driving force for existing. It is the pursuit of happiness that makes us feel aspirational in life. We seek success, growth and accumulations because we feel that these will make us happy. However, happiness is derived not so much from what we have but from who we are. Being contented in one\'s work life is a worthwhile goal to have. While it may seem ideal to compartmentalize life into different zones, one cannot be entirely happy in one\'s personal space if one is unhappy in their professional domain. Having a spill over is natural at times. Thus, happiness at work is a concept that is pertinent to a successful and rewarding work life.

\"Most of us would like to be happier at work to be able to say that the hours and effort that we dedicate to it truly contribute to how happy we are in life\" - Emiliana R.Simon-Thomas, Kira M. Newman, Article- How Happy are people at Work?, July 2019, Greater Good Magazine, Greater Good Science Center based at the University of California, Berkeley,

Happiness and Purpose

Amongst other things, happiness comes from inculcating a sense of purpose at work. As Chartered Accountants and finance professionals, it is critical that we be purpose driven as integrity is the bedrock of our profession. Our purpose is linked to the professional values we nurture within ourselves. Purpose is that which leads us to discover fulfillment and meaning at work. Thus, it also relates to being happy at work. Our professional lives keep evolving at a remarkable pace leveraging the use of different technologies and other resources for greater productivity. The chase to optimize and be productive is often accompanied by the scurry to fit even more into an already packed schedule, to accomplish the maximum that we can. However, what goes in tandem with productivity is the need to weigh the impact our work leaves on ourselves at a personal level and on society at large. This also brings to the fore an often overlooked aspect of life - the need to create positivity in the world of work and our responsibility towards it.

\"Today, most company leaders believe that their firms\' larger purpose is to make a positive difference in the world-not just to maximize shareholder value. More than eight in 10 executives, for example, think that a strong sense of shared purpose drives employee satisfaction, facilitates business transformation, and helps boost customer loyalty. Most executives also understand that purpose helps companies navigate a volatile and unpredictable environment and delivers higher and more sustainable performance\" - Hubert Joly (Former Chairman and CEO of Best Buy, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School), Article, Harvard Business Review Digital Articles - Creating a Meaningful Corporate Purpose, October 2021.

How important is it for CAs to work with purpose

\"Ya esa suptesu jagarti\", meaning one who is awake in those that sleep is reflective of the ideals of the Chartered Accountants\' fellowship. This text from the Kathopanishad was suggested to ICAI by Sri Aurobindo at the time of its formation as its motto and reminds us that the path we tread as professionals must be steeped in responsibility, accountability, integrity, sincerity and meaning. CAs, both in industry and practice, assume various roles as executives, managers, leaders and self - starters. As such, one maybe required to deal with complex financial scenarios along with constantly evolving business processes. Working with purpose calls for having a personal credo to live by. It has no one yardstick. It involves being rooted to one\'s core values and then being able to integrate those convictions with one\'s work ethics and leadership values. It encompasses a wide gamut of attributes that bolster effective performance. Businesses today are no longer based on the theory of maximizing profits only. Successful global CEOs often advocate the mantra that profit should be regarded as an end result, an outcome or a consequence that comes out of following purposeful processes and not be the sole existential goal for a company. As Chartered Accountants, we must be conscious that our work has the potential to bring about significant impact in the business world. Hence, anchoring our work to meaning and purpose should be central to our professional practices.

How to find purpose at work

Defining our individual purpose at work begins with aligning our personal core values with the way we work and the goals we set for ourselves. Purpose at work is seldom related to earning only monetary compensation, rather it is more connected to the non monetary intangibles. While monetary incentives do play a role in motivating us, it is factors like making an impact, recognition, goodwill, contributing meaningfully to our profession that make us feel more valued. Introspection is key to identifying and recognizing one\'s own objectives at work.

Personal reflections that lead us to ask questions such as those below are a pertinent starting point.

• Why do I work?
• What in my profession fetches most meaning for me?
• What drives me?
• What are the values on which I base my professional life?

It is important to remember that each of us is writing our own unique story at work every day, that which mirrors our aspirations and carves the path we finally walk on to actualize the professional goals we set for ourselves. This story is authored by us in numerous ways and is woven through the decisions we make, tasks we execute, teams we lead and the collaborations we forge.

Constructs of a purposeful work story may include the following:

• Integrity - Integrity cannot be alienated from purpose. Integrity calls for honest discharge of our functions with the awareness that any lapse or failure to do our part diligently can impair proper decision making, governance, matters of revenue and other key enablers of progress with respect to the country, corporate houses, and individual citizens.
• Authenticity - Bringing our authentic self to work forms an integral part of a purposeful journey. Authenticity is about being genuine at work. It involves forging true connections by delivering and advising with complete sincerity. When we build trust for the end user of our services by being committed and responsible, we know we have succeeded as professionals.
• Building a foundation of sound professional ethics - By being ethical at work, we create a shadow for ourselves that follows us through our professional lives and may be even beyond that. It is important that the shadow we cast as individuals embraces the totality of our professional ethos and represents an immutable professional spirit which does not falter over time and changing circumstances.
• Trust and Responsibility - Trust is acquired through competence and expertise. Responsibility is also key to building trust. Any client-service provider relationship is strengthened through a process of building trust over a period of time. As a professional community serving the nation, CAs must give primacy to gaining trust through responsible conduct.
• Clarity of objectives - It is important to have a strong and clear vision of one\'s goals and objectives. The ability to perceive the bigger picture with clarity simultaneous to realizing the smaller steps needed to accomplish the final goal supports in crafting a purposeful narrative at work.
• Having a balanced approach - Balance and even mindedness is an important attribute to cultivate. Having balance holds us in good stead in every phase of our professional and personal lives. A balanced approach increases our capacity to tackle change and fluctuation with calm stability. This in turn promotes agile thinking, good comprehension and effective decision making.
• Enabling collaboration - A well performing team is one that works together in a cohesive manner to achieve common objectives. In an organization, goals are accomplished by combined group efforts. Constructive collaboration between people increases productivity and shared tasks help to reduce turnaround times for client delivery. Existence of proper communication channels between different levels of the pyramid both top-down and bottom-up lead to people being heard, viewpoints being expressed, and ideas being exchanged. Thus, problem areas are better identified and solutions for resolution are aptly arrived at.
• Mindfulness - Mindfulness and resilience enhances our threshold levels to manage stress and other challenges at work. It equips us with a coping mechanism and makes us more resilient to stressors. Mindfulness can be defined as that which enables us to maintain an inner equilibrium within the landscape of stress at work. This can be done through techniques that help us develop discernment while possessing a quiet awareness of outer circumstances.

Wheel of Happiness - Managing Work Stress and India\'s ancient wisdom

The wheel is a significant concept in ancient Indian spirituality. Buddhism expounds the process of elimination of suffering by following the Noble Eight-Fold Path often depicted by means of a wheel. The Noble Eight-Fold Path prescribes how one must engage in rightful living encompassing right thought, right understanding, right action, right speech, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration to achieve permanent happiness. This wheel of Dharma or \"Dharmachakra\" sets in motion the laws and principles of truth, peace, virtue, change and resurgence. The wheel also finds mention in Hinduism as the cosmic weapon \"Sudarshanchakra\" used by Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the cosmos to annihilate negative forces. Therefore, at a profound level, the wheel symbolizes being anchored to Dharma and all that is positive. The phenomenon of happiness at work can be compared to a wheel - the wheel of happiness. The wheel of happiness applies to life in general and can also be replicated in a corporate setting.

The wheel of happiness is a tool that helps to keep our purpose alive as we try to find our \"North Star\" at work.

Happier professionals are more productive and capable of triggering significant individual and organizational growth. Enforcing positivity at the workplace will result in a shift which must be sustained for a better world.

The wheel of happiness can be perceived as a revolving circle with the circumference being constantly buffeted by potential uncertainties from the external environment. The circle is held to the center by spokes; the spokes being symbolic of eliminators that help mitigate the challenges and preserve the balance of the wheel.

A wheel rotates and is synonymous with motion, the moving of time. If we introspect, it seems that we are on a wheel which is constantly revolving from the time we enter the world to the time we leave it. This movement is the origin of a constant flux, signifying a river like life that not only flows constantly but is subject to change every minute. Is it possible to find happiness in this state of uncertainty? Yes. We are perched, almost precariously on the rim of the wheel. The rim is constantly exposed to stressors from the outer environment. At work, these stressors may come to us as performance pressures, stretched work schedules, difficult deadlines, lengthy meetings, evolving business processes, toxic behavior from co-workers, keeping step with constantly changing laws and regulations, financial uncertainties etc. Added to this, we may have our own internal stressors triggered by any limiting beliefs that we may have of ourselves. The center of the wheel, not impacted by this exposure, is thus the only safe place. How do we stay anchored to the center of the wheel?

Hinduism\'s foremost spiritual text, the Bhagavad Gita, is an uplifting and insightful exchange between God incarnated as Krishna and the Pandava prince, Arjuna. This eternal dialogue points out that the soul is not affected by external forces. Therefore, one can reach a state of tranquility if one is able to transcend the external changes and anchor oneself in one\'s inner being. Happiness is a state, perpetual and inherent in man\'s inner self and can be realized by him anytime he cultivates the positive traits intrinsic to balanced living, no matter what the outer circumstances are. The spokes of the wheel which bind the rim to the center maybe considered as being symbolic of these strengths which when nurtured, fortify and equip us so that we can function happily and unhindered in any environment. Values such as integrity, resilience, equanimity, empathy, mindfulness, understanding, respect, meaningful exchange and purposeful engagement result in universal alignment with a harmonious existence at the workspace. For the wheel to rotate seamlessly without friction, the space inside must be evenly diffused with such vibrations so that the external stressors are not cause for any disruption. What would be an ideal environment to foster such values?

Businesses need to realign and recalibrat-e on various aspects.

This would include following practices -

• that encourage leadership to be meaningful
• that stress on development of the individual
• that further an environment where one\'s individual goals are aligned with the organizational goals
• that believe in giving room for autonomy and independent decision making for an individual to participate and flourish
• that instill a sense of belief and pride that every role and contribution add value and is significant for a company\'s progress
• that celebrate achievements
• that enable constructive team spirit
• that promote workplace equity
• that respect conflicting opinions
• that bring about a spirit of goodwill and altruism, and above all embrace a humanistic approach in organizational operations

The wheel of happiness is a reflection of adopting business practices that are conducted with the intent of making business a force for good and is about the values we embrace at work. The ICAI motto, so deeply entrenched in the spiritual philosophy of the Kathopanishad, serves as a beacon for members of this lofty profession and empowers us on our professional path.