Over the past six months we have been hard at work finding and documenting the happiest people in America, from all different backgrounds. Our only criteria for interviewees is that someone else told us they’re happy. Race, age, gender, socio-economic background, family history—all these things melt away when all we ask of them is to tell us why they're happy. One truth began to emerge that explained how this wide range of happy people, who seemingly shared no common trait ...
In the last several weeks, I had two radically different experiences spending extended time with leaders at two large, global companies. A long, alcohol-fueled dinner with the first group was a pure downer: dull, rote, and devoid of positive energy.