Albert Schweitzer once said, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” Was he right? Sort of. According to the best research available (which we will read in this class), to be a successful leader, you need to understand happiness and manage to it—yours and others’. Unfortunately, most leaders have to learn this fact by hard experience. Furthermore, they are never exposed to the expanding science of happiness, which contains a wealth of information on how to be happier as a leader and make others happier as well.

This class has three objectives:

1. Students will create a map of their own happiness, desires, motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. In short, they will know themselves much more deeply.
2. Students will learn tactics and strategies to raise their levels of well-being and life satisfaction.
3. Students will learn how to lead others in a way that increases happiness.

Students will take the best surveys on happiness, read some of the most influential modern research on the topic, discuss the research in class, and apply their knowledge to leadership scenarios. They will leave after seven weeks prepared to use the material during the balance of their time at HBS and in the workforce. Not only will this give them a competitive advantage in the labor market; it will also help them enjoy their work and lives.

This will take place as a hybrid class if possible, subject to HBS guidelines and available classroom resources in January, 2021. But if it is entirely online instead, the material will be optimized for that environment, including asynchronous lectures and interviews that students can consume on their own schedules (and as many times as they want), and virtual discussion sessions in manageable sizes. No matter the format, this class is designed to provide a straightforward experience in which students learn a lot and enjoy the work, without undue ambiguity or stress.

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