We sprang off our grey couch and screamed! Hands in the air and feet dancing, my daughter and I celebrated like we were inside the stadium.

As a cradle Chiefs fan, this felt like redemption from my childhood in the ’80s of the Chiefs giving up their lead in the fourth quarter. 

As an object lesson about Joyosity, it’s the picture of engagement.

I’ll come back to the football game, let’s talk about why engagement matters.

Gallop research shows groups with highly engaged people have 17% higher productivity and 21% higher profitably. Engagement means less absenteeism, lower healthcare costs, and higher retention rates.

Yet in 2023, across the US nearly 70% of employees are disengaged at work.

Engagement skills are people skills. Cultivating engaged employees isn’t about a ping pong table or jeans on Friday. It’s how you work together as humans.

So, back to the football game…

A record-setting 202.4 million people watched the 2024 Super Bowl, a 10% increase from last year. And a 7% increase in average viewers (meaning more people watched the entire time).

People watched — and stayed — because they were engaged in the game, the commercials, Usher, or Taylor.

That engagement meant an 11% increase in Paramount shares on Friday before the game, Kristin Juszczyk joined Kiya Tomlin with NFL licensing deals, and Apex Marketing estimates that increased engagement due to Taylor Swift has increased the brand value by $331.5 million.

Engagement is the catalyst to profits. But even more important, engagement is the way to joy at work.

I saw this video comparing 2023 and 2024. This is what increased engagement feels like.

You, as a leader, can build this for yourself and your team.

Here are the five skills you need to increase healthy engagement

1. Emotional Intelligence
   Understanding and managing your own emotions, empathizing with others, using emotions appropriately in decision-making, and regulating emotions when others are dysregulated (see Andy Reid!)
2. Communication
   Creating shared meaning among people using active listening and verbal, nonverbal, and written messages.
3. Conflict Resolution
   Solving and resolving interpersonal conflicts, process differences, and systemic issues while honoring people and creating effective solutions.
4. Boundaries
   Establishing and honoring limits such as work time, deadlines, fees, involvement, physical proximity, and more.
5. Decision Making
   Making effective choices by identifying root causes, gathering data, and creating actionable solutions based on values.

Engagement doesn’t just happen. Yet when you build these five engagement skills, it almost feels like it spreads like a viral video of a family jumping for joy together.

Imagine for a moment that level of excitement from your team. What would that do for your work? For your productivity? For your general well-being?

Let’s work together to make that happen. Here’s how to start. Which of these five skills do you think you or your team needs the most? Comment and let me know.