Jenn Lim - Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact

Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life.

TUCK EVERLASTING

I was five weeks out from this books deadline when my phone started blowing up one night, in a way that lets you know either something amazing just happened or something on the furthest other end from that. The way it was buzzing nonstop, it felt like my phone was furious, and I had a sinking feeling.

Tony Hsieh had died.

The world had lost a kindhearted imagineer and entrepreneur, and I had lost one of my soulmates and partners in positivity. Having been through death before, most painfully the passing of my dad seventeen years prior, I was familiar with the feelings and the five stages of grief, but this was so different.

His passing sent me into one of the most raging tailspins Ive experienced. The only salve that brought the occasional calm was the outpouring of love, support, and grief shared with so many others who had been affected and inspired by Tonys life too. We couldnt physically be together because of the pandemic, but as his family, his friends, and the world mourned his loss, I was struck by the feelings of solace and love that can still be felt in a digital age when technology is usually cast as the enemy. In this case, it became a trusted friend.

Ill be forever grateful to everyone who shared their humanity with me and each other. My friends and family, who took the baton to make sure I was eating and sleeping; my Delivering Happiness (DH) work family, who gave me all the time I needed to grieve; and people far and wide who sent heartfelt messages that helped me get by, one moment at a time.

But there was still a book to write. One that reassures us of the deep meaning in the work we do and that could inspire leaders to understand scientific happiness in the workplace and whats beyond it. At times, I had doubts that I could pull it off. But as each day passed from a blur to moments of a slight smile tied to a warm memory, it reminded me how the lights eventually get brighter again and I realized the irony of it all. Tonys deathwith the heavy media storm and cynical, at times heartless, questionswas testing all the lessons Id learned about highs, lows, happiness, and beyond.

On some days, it was impossible to focus because his passing was so public. On other days, Id look at the picture of me and Tony on Mount Kilimanjaro and hear his words: Anything is possible. I wasnt sure how things were going to turn out, but I did know Delivering Happiness was a part of Tony. Overnight, it had transformed from a company wed cofounded ten years before to one of the ways that his legacy would live on. I was reinspired to live out our companys purpose with even more impact on the world.

As things cleared in my head, I knew the core messages of this bookthe relationships among purpose, people, and profits for growth and impactwere still the same as before he died. Even though the world without a physical Tony would never be the same, the why behind this book and the reasons it had to be written grew in its strength.

As Buddhists believe, and American political journalist Norman Cousins wrote, Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. We have no way of telling what forms our bodies and souls will transition to next, so we might as well live fully and wholly in the here and now, or, as Tony liked to say, unapologetically true to our weird selves.

I learned this when my dad died, and now that Tonys passed, it couldnt be a bigger truth to me. We all eventually lose the things we love, including ourselves, but if we can accept this truth, the why behind our existence is clear: holding space for ourselves and others to be truly who we are while feeling belonging and love. If theres anything in the world that can slow the metastasis of divisiveness, its the celebration of what unites us. We all want to love and be loved while being true to our (weird) authentic selves, whether at work or in life.

This book is about understanding the authentic self in our work/life journeys. It shares how we can get back to the core of who we are and live the purposeful life we want through the work we do every day. It shows how we can adapt to unknowns by applying Purpose + Values to navigate the future. It shines light on some of the defining questions of our time: How can individuals have a greater effect on business growth and success? How can companies modernize org design so we can each do our best work because we love it? How can we find meaning and create a positive impact in our work and communitiesregardless of the challenges the world throws our way?

During our Delivering Happiness book tour back in 2010, Tony and I had one of our many random conversations that turned out not to be so random at all. Things still felt surreal as we were traveling around cross-country with our book team on a bus we had bought from the Dave Matthews Band, our goal to share the message and one of our core values: inspire and be inspired (and have fun while doing it). We were excited that the book was doing well, but it was also one of the most stressful times in our lives. Being on the road, trying to deliver happiness to others, took a toll on everyone on that bus.