Weekends are time when things slow down a little. Your weekend shouldn’t be two more regular work days. That’s a sure road to burnout. Take time to refresh yourself. Take time for something different. Take time for some of that reading you can’t find time for during the week.

Here are choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. This week there are articles about happiness at work.

From Mark C. Crowley: The Proof Is In The Profits: America’s Happiest Companies Make More Money

“Workplace happiness may seem like a fuzzy concept when it comes to financial value. But as the Parnassus Workplace Fund has proven, dignity has—and creates—value.”

From Dan Cable, Selin Kesebir, and Michael Parke: Happiness matters: the how and the why

“Individuals, organisations and governments are taking notice of happiness. Find out how you and your organisation can be happier.”

From Daniel Goleman: A Missing Link Between Work and Well-Being

“What makes you happy? I don’t mean in an I-won-the-lottery kind of way, but rather what gives you a deep sense of satisfaction and well-being? It turns out there’s a difference between the events that make us happy for a while and what gives us that feeling of well-being. Dr. Carol Ryff, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was among the first to disentangle well-being from a simplistic definition of happiness.”

From Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries: The Happiness Equation

“When your unhappiness affects your productivity and that of those around you, it’s time to reassess how you are living your life.”

From Alexander Kjerulf: 20 ways to measure happiness at work beyond the usual useless satisfaction surveys

“So what can you measure? This can go way beyond just an annual job satisfaction survey. It’s essential to find the metrics that are relevant to your employees, your customers and your organization. Here are all the potential ways we’ve come up with to measure employee happiness. Did we forget any? Write a comment if you have one we didn’t include.”

From André Spicer and Carl Cederström: The Research We’ve Ignored About Happiness at Work

“Ever since a group of scientists switched the lights on and off at the Hawthorne factory in the mid-1920s, scholars and executives alike have been obsessed with increasing their employees’ productivity. In particular, happiness as a way to boost productivity seems to have gained increased traction in corporate circles as of late. Firms spend money on happiness coaches, team-building exercises, gameplays, funsultants, and Chief Happiness Officers (yes, you’ll find one of those at Google). These activities and titles may appear jovial, or even bizarre, but companies are taking them extremely seriously. Should they?”

Book Suggestions

Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century by Mark C. Crowley

Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do by Daniel M. Cable

Leading With Happiness: How the Best Leaders Put Happiness First to Create Phenomenal Business Results and a Better World by Alexander Kjerulf

The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life by Shawn Achor

The Art of Happiness at Work by Dalai Lama and Howard C Cutler