The Power of Small Joys
In business, we’re often taught to pursue the big wins, like major contracts, job titles, and hitting year-end targets. But if you ask people what they remember most from their careers, it’s rarely any of those things.
As the year gets underway, I find myself reflecting. After three decades in the ad industry, I’ve come to a late-career realization: it’s not always the big things that inspire us, move us, or make us feel seen. Instead, it’s the smaller moments that hold the greatest meaning.
A colleague bringing a cup of coffee on a hectic morning. A proud smile from a client when they share a campaign award with their boss. A handwritten note from someone you mentored years ago. A favorite dish shared during an office potluck. A friend acknowledging a creative billboard they saw on the freeway without realizing it’s yours. Seeing an employee hug another employee after months of Teams meetings. A gentle, honest conversation with a client navigating personal challenges, offering empathy and support.
These aren’t just feel-good anecdotes. I think they are the real glue of meaningful work and meaningful lives.
Neuroscience even shows that frequent small positive experiences can outweigh occasional big achievements. In other words, a steady drip of joy nourishes us more than a rare waterfall. If we only emphasize the big wins, we unintentionally encourage others to overlook the everyday moments that bring warmth and meaning.
As managers and business leaders, we shape culture not with mission statements, but with what we model and celebrate. If we talk only about metrics, people focus only on metrics. If we highlight only giant victories, people chase stress-filled sprints. But if we notice small kindnesses, small steps of progress, and small flashes of humanity, people will begin to notice them, too. Leaders have the power to widen people’s field of vision so they don’t miss the richness already in front of them.
As we look ahead to 2026, let’s commit ourselves to being a source of small, meaningful experiences that go beyond the big wins and metrics. By nurturing these moments, we can inspire better work and build workplaces where people feel genuinely valued and motivated every single day.
—Renee
