Happy Teams in Happy Places

Yesterday I was in my happy place.

For the first time in a year, I was playing golf on the Littlestone Links. There's something about being out on that course that completely switches me off from everything else.

On the drive home, I found myself wondering why it is my happy place. Then I started thinking about all the other happy places I have in my life.

There are quite a few.

Each one means something slightly different to me, but they all have one thing in common: they bring me joy, and time seems to disappear when I'm there.

As a Scale-Up Business Coach, my thoughts soon turned to the businesses I work with. Before long, I realised that the most successful businesses all have something in common too.

They have people working in their happy places.

Not only are they doing what they love, but they're also making a difference. There's no doubt in my mind that people operating with purpose and passion achieve far more than those who aren't.

I see this regularly in family businesses.

Sometimes Mum and Dad push their son or daughter into taking over the company, but the child simply doesn't care about it. They don't love it, they're not motivated by it, and it's certainly not their happy place.

I've also seen the complete opposite, where the next generation brings even more energy, purpose and ambition than their parents ever did.

In other businesses, it's more a case of trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

Or, as Gino Wickman, author of Traction, puts it: Right Person, Right Seat (RPRS) or Wrong Person, Wrong Seat (WPWS).

Every business owner building a team needs to focus on getting the right people into the right seats. If that isn't the case, action is needed, and quickly.

Failing to act simply prolongs the headaches for the owner and the rest of the team.

In reality, there are usually only two options:

1. Help them move on.
2. Help them move into a role where they can thrive.

Whichever route you choose, don't put it off.

But what if you're the business owner and you're not in the right seat?

Over the years, I've met countless business owners who started a business because they loved what they did. Then, somewhere along the way, they discovered that running the business was preventing them from doing the very thing they loved in the first place.

John was one of those people.

He was a brilliant farm machinery mechanic with an incredible knack for adapting machines for entirely new purposes. He would design bits and pieces, make modifications, and hey presto, they worked.

He loved it.

He could spend hours immersed in solving customer problems. He was firmly in his happy place.

Word spread quickly and the business grew. But while John remained on the workshop floor creating solutions, most of the other essential aspects of the business weren't getting the attention they needed.

The finances, systems, processes and people management all started to suffer.

The truth was that John didn't enjoy those things. In fact, he'd never wanted to do them in the first place.

A business full of potential was in danger of stalling.

The solution?

Find a great General Manager to run the business.

That allowed John to focus on being the Chief Ideas Officer. He could spend his time talking to customers, solving their problems and developing innovative solutions, while someone else took responsibility for running the company.

Over the next couple of years, the business doubled.

Then it doubled again.

So, as you move through today, ask yourself a simple question:

How much time do you spend in your happy place?

And if the answer is "not much", why not?

If work has become an unhappy place, perhaps it's time to make some changes.

If you're frustrated because you, or members of your team, aren't in the roles where they can truly thrive, then perhaps I can help.

Because when people find their happy place, amazing things tend to happen.

Updated 10 August 2026