A German Word You Need to Know

I don’t speak German, but recently I learned a word that I love: freudenfreud.

I heard this on The Long and the Short of It podcast. Maybe you’ve heard the word schadenfreude, which means “taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune.” There are blooper videos on YouTube that receive millions of views because of this; tabloids and websites like TMZ exist solely for this reason.

But Freudenfreude (FROI-den-froy-duh) is just the opposite: it’s where we find pleasure in others’ good fortune. We’re joyful when other people succeed. Videos like surprise military reunions with their families or people who are colorblind put on glasses that help them see the world for what it really is for the first time are good examples.

We live in a world where the default setting seems to be catching people doing things wrong. But what if instead we focused on catching people doing things right.

A leader is a cultural cultivator. We have the opportunity to cultivate environments to celebrate the right things. Notice. Encourage. Celebrate. Affirm. Go nuts for people. Build trust by genuinely celebrating the successes of others around you.

Be a freudenfreud leader.