Leading with Joy When Work Isn’t Working

Joy at work is not the norm.

U.S. employee engagement is at a 10-year low. Globally, the stats aren’t any more encouraging. According to Gallup, just 23% of employees globally feel engaged at work. Lack of satisfaction with work is more prevalent among Hispanics, Blacks, and Asian Americans when compared with their White counterparts. Plus, there’s a growing trend of employee detachment, especially among Gen Z and Millennial workers.

The bottom line: Work isn’t working for everyone.

The bottom line: Work isn’t working for everyone.

What’s Behind the Decline?

Why is there so little joy in the workplace today? The stats above reflect that the job market is mixed. Several industries are in the midst of tectonic shifts. Financial stability is a real worry for many people. AI is rapidly disrupting things. Division causes uncertainty. People are strained.

But I wonder if the data also reflects something about leaders, too? That they’re strained just like everyone else. Every organizational leader I know is fundamentally in the business of developing people, while simultaneously navigating complex factors that threaten to work against the metrics by which their work is deemed a success.

We asked twenty-five Christians about their own joy at work. What we heard is that it’s hard to come by. Here are the top three answers to what they thought impeded joy

1. Job demands: the feeling that there is simply too much to do and not enough of me to go around.
2. Work-related stress: when things get hard with coworkers, or when we feel overwhelmed by the weight of things
3. Personal blind spots: when we lead out of stress or haven’t done our inner work in light of a blind spot, we show up as reactive, people-pleasing, or with any number of other coping mechanisms.

This leads us to naturally wonder: If joy is so hard to come by, why even bother?

Why Joy Matters for Leaders

We bother because we believe that God calls us to work toward what is good in the face of what is hard. We bother because as we mature in our faith, and as we grow in wisdom about what God is up to, it ought to make us better leaders. We bother because, as Willie James Jennings says, joy is an act of resistance against despair.

We bother because, as Willie James Jennings says, joy is an act of resistance against despair.

In Galatians, Paul tells us that when the Spirit is at work in us and in the world, the fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). Imagine if we could do the delicate work of approaching job demands and work-related stress as those in whom the fruit of the Spirit is active? Imagine how radically different our world might feel if this kind of leadership and care for others spread across our destabilized world?

If people are worried, strained, or feeling disheartened, efforts to cultivate joy in ourselves and for others might just be a critical leadership strategy for retention, performance, and the development of people into all that God calls us to be.

Max De Pree himself said, “Joy is an essential ingredient of leadership. Leaders are obligated to provide it.” Our work is to show up wherever God has us—across industries and seasons of life and—to, as Jasmine Bellamy says, “joyfully disrupt” the status quo. And, if the status quo is one without joy, then that’s what faithful Christian leaders are called to disrupt.

If the status quo is one without joy, then that’s what faithful Christian leaders are called to disrupt.

But here’s the thing—more joy is good for everyone. When we asked the same Christian executives how experiencing joy impacted them, they indicated that:

• Joy changed their mindset. It gave them hope or motivated them to keep going.
• Some participants found that joy changed the way they work. It made them more creative and better problem solvers. It helped them decide where to focus their time and energy. It helped them experience flow.
• Joy overflowed to others. Joy is contagious, and it has to be shared.
• Joy helped them persevere in tough situations.

Where to Begin: The Practice of Gratitude

It’s daunting to take on the work of overhauling systems all at once. It can even feel trite or insincere to rush something formal, especially in workplaces where engagement is particularly low. So, where do we start?

I suggest starting by making space to practice personal gratitude. Research suggests that gratitude can lead to joy, and joy can lead to gratitude. In 1 Thessalonians 5 16-18, Paul invites us to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances. This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Something encouraging happens when we intentionally make space to remember what God has done. Over time, practicing gratitude reshapes our perception of current events. An interruption from a colleague becomes a moment of sacred pause. A curveball from a client becomes an opportunity to watch your colleague hit it out of the park. Gratitude transforms the way we think.

Want some more guidance on how to practice gratitude?

1. Counting Blessings: A weekly practice
2. Gratitude Visit: A deep dive into expressing gratitude in a relationship
3. A Year of Blessings: A great one to do at the end or beginning of a year

For those of us who are called to follow Jesus, we must consider carefully how we steward the responsibility to cultivate joy in the face of despair. And for that, let’s start with gratitude for what God has already done.