Can you be happy and successful?
Will Harper ’14 entered graduate school like many 20-somethings, eager to learn and searching for his life’s purpose. While at Kellogg, Harper organized a five-person team under the direction of Harry Kraemer ’79, clinical professor of strategy, and turned his personal journey into a six-month research project focused on understanding the components of happiness.
Two years later, that six-month project has evolved into a business in which Harper consults with companies and works with business leaders to build happiness and fulfillment — for themselves and their employees — into their strategies for success.
In a talk hosted by the Kellogg Business Leadership Club on Oct. 2, Harper spoke with students about the need to build fulfillment in their lives while finding career success.
Barriers to happiness
While developing his business after graduation, Harper quickly learned that many professionals were so focused on being efficient and successful, they found themselves unfulfilled and struggling to find their purpose. So in his talk to students, Harper started with a few basic questions to get the conversation moving: “What are my skills?” “What am I good at?” “What do I love?” and “What are my values?”
“Where those things intersect, that’s the most powerful version of you,” he said. “And if we apply that powerful version of you to the needs in the world, that’s where you get the biggest impact. It’s also where you get the most happiness.”