Redefining Success: Leading with Purpose and Authenticity

This article recaps a recent episode of Chief Change Officer hosted by Vince Chan. Listen to the full episode "Personal Loss, Career Growth, and Real Change: Rahshea Cardiff’s Happiness Journey " Part 1 & Part 2 wherever you get your podcasts.

Have you ever felt like you're just going through the motions, climbing the ladder but missing out on what truly matters? How do we balance personal fulfillment with professional success in a fast-paced world filled with endless demands? This was the heart of a compelling conversation between Rahshea Cardiff, VP of Partnerships at Happy Companies, and Vince Chan, host of the Chief Change Officer podcast. Rahshea's journey is one of resilience, self-discovery, and a renewed focus on what truly matters: people.

Key Takeaways

• Put People First: By investing in your team's development and well-being, the results will naturally follow. Happy's platform is designed to support this by providing leaders with actionable insights into their teams' strengths and needs.
• Resilience in the Face of Personal Challenges: Personal challenges can be transformative if we allow them to lead us to a deeper sense of purpose.
• Embrace Courageous Leadership: Don't shy away from difficult conversations or challenging the status quo. True leadership requires both structure and empathy.
• Leverage Technology Thoughtfully: Use tools like Happy to scale personalized coaching and communication, but always prioritize the human connection.
• Focus on What Matters Most: Life is unpredictable. Reflect on your priorities and ensure you live a life aligned with your values.

Let's dive into the lessons she shared on prioritizing purpose and embracing change, both at work and in life.

A Journey Rooted in People Leadership

Throughout her 20+ years in corporate America, Rahshea's passion for people leadership has been the common thread that ties her career together. From her early days at Best Buy to her leadership roles at Starbucks and Microsoft, she always prioritized the people. In the podcast, Rahshea shared, "If I put my people first—if I hire the right talent, give them structured onboarding, and consistently invest in their development—the results will follow."

It's this people-first mindset that brought her to Happy Companies. At Happy, she leverages her vast experience to build partnerships that help organizations transform their workplace culture. But it wasn't a linear journey. Along the way, she navigated significant personal and professional challenges that reshaped her approach to leadership and life.

Resilience in the Face of Personal Challenges

Rahshea's journey has been far from smooth. Just as her career was reaching new heights, life presented her with a series of challenges that would change her perspective entirely. In 2016, she experienced a difficult divorce, and shortly after, her mother lost her battle with cancer. These two profound losses, so close together, pushed her to pause and reassess what truly mattered in her life.

These experiences prompted Rahshea to take a hard look at her priorities. She realized that she had been caught up in pursuing career success for years, constantly striving for the next milestone. But these personal hardships made her question whether she was truly living the life she wanted. The realization hit her: life isn't something to put off for the future—it's happening right now, and time isn't guaranteed.

Determined to make a change, Rahshea shifted her focus away from solely climbing the corporate ladder. She boldly decided to leave her demanding corporate role to spend more time with her young son and pursue a path aligned with her deeper purpose. This transition was challenging and liberating, opening up the space to find fulfillment in a way she hadn't before.

Ultimately, this shift led her to Happy, where her passion for people and desire to create meaningful impact found the perfect outlet. Today, Rahshea uses her extensive experience to help organizations prioritize the human side of work, fostering happier and healthier teams.

Balancing Structure and Empathy in Leadership

In her conversation with Vince, Rahshea tackled a challenge many leaders know all too well: finding the balance between upholding company policies and genuinely supporting each team member as an individual. Throughout her career in corporate settings, she frequently navigated this delicate balance, often needing to fulfill policy expectations while addressing the unique needs of her team members.

One experience brought this philosophy to life. When she took over a new market, Rahshea was given a team with several members on performance improvement plans. Rather than simply following the expected route, she took a step back. She knew that each person's situation was unique and opted to spend time getting to know each team member individually, learning about their strengths, motivations, and the challenges they faced. By doing so, she saw an opportunity: one struggling team member responded remarkably well to her supportive approach. With her guidance and encouragement, this individual didn't just improve but eventually became one of the top performers nationally.

This approach reflects what Rahshea believes is essential to strong leadership: balancing structure with empathy. While policies offer a framework, great leaders also need discernment, empathy, and the willingness to have honest, sometimes challenging conversations. For her, this combination of structure and support helps individuals thrive and reach their potential, ultimately driving the team's success.

Leveraging Technology Without Losing the Human Touch

As VP of Partnerships at Happy, Rahshea is focused on helping organizations thrive in today's complex, fast-evolving work environment. This is especially important as hybrid and remote work has redefined the workplace. Rahshea understands that now more than ever, leaders are asked to accomplish more with fewer resources, even as the need for genuine connection and strong collaboration has only grown.

At the core of Happy's approach is integrating behavioral science and technology, crafted into tools that provide leaders with a deeper understanding of their teams. The Happy Assessment, central to the platform, creates detailed profiles for each team member, capturing their work style, communication preferences, and what drives or drains their energy. But for Rahshea, the true value of Happy lies not just in the technology itself but in how it enhances human connection within teams.

In her view, technology is meant to complement, not replace, the human aspect of leadership. While Happy's tools deliver rich insights and personalized coaching recommendations, they are most impactful when leaders actively use them to strengthen relationships and build trust with their teams. By integrating these tools into the flow of daily work, leaders can foster a more connected and resilient workforce, even during challenging times.

Rahshea's approach ensures that organizations can scale their people-centered strategies, making it feasible to support large teams without sacrificing the empathy and understanding that make workplaces thrive. For her, the ultimate goal is to empower leaders to use these tools thoughtfully, creating environments where technology enables—rather than diminishes—the essential human connections that drive success.

Unbecoming to Become: A Personal Reflection on Growth

As the podcast neared its end, Rahshea shared a powerful concept that's become a guiding principle in her life: sometimes, growth isn't about adding new qualities or reaching a certain status but rather about shedding the layers that aren't truly you. Over her career, she realized that the path to fulfillment wasn't about becoming something different or achieving someone else's idea of success. It was about letting go of expectations and roles that didn't resonate with her authentic self.

This process of "unbecoming" was personal and profound for Rahshea. Throughout her years in corporate America, she often felt nudged to adjust her natural leadership style. Whether that meant being tougher, less empathetic, or fitting a mold others believed was essential for success. Yet, as she reflected more deeply on her values and strengths, Rahshea embraced what felt natural and right: leading with empathy, maintaining optimism, and prioritizing the people around her. Rather than pushing these qualities aside, she made them central to her leadership approach.

For anyone who feels misaligned in their current role or on a path that doesn't feel quite right, Rahshea's journey offers a meaningful reminder. Finding purpose may require examining whether you're living by your values or standards you've inherited. It's about making changes that bring you closer to who you genuinely are—even if that means stepping away from conventional paths or letting go of a title you once aspired to. For Rahshea and many who feel inspired by her story, fulfillment comes from this willingness to redefine success, aligning personal values with professional life in deeply authentic and true ways.

Embracing Purpose and People in the Workplace

Rahshea’s conversation with Vince Chan offered a powerful reminder: happiness, resilience, and meaningful work are not just distant ideals—they’re achievable realities within any workplace, provided we’re open to new approaches, grounded in empathy, and committed to our core values. In a time when work environments are evolving rapidly and often feel increasingly disconnected, Rahshea's insights shed light on how leaders and individuals alike can foster workplaces that are truly people-centered.

Platforms like Happy can be our partners in creating workplaces where everyone can thrive. By leveraging behavioral insights and technology, Happy helps create environments where leaders can support their teams more effectively and every individual can feel understood and valued. It’s not just about the technology; it’s about using these tools to enhance connection, communication, and collaboration—essential elements for any organization aiming to thrive in today’s complex landscape.

Whether you're a leader aspiring to build a more cohesive and engaged team or an individual pursuing personal growth and alignment with your values, this conversation offers valuable guidance. Rahshea’s journey, and the lessons she shares, serve as a testament to the impact of putting people first and leading with purpose. As we look toward the future of work, these principles remind us that, by prioritizing empathy, intentionality, and human connection, we can create workplaces where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.