Risk & Business Magazine General Insurance Services Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 23

RELATIONSHIPS
SHAWN HUNTER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
OF MINDSCALING
of leadership, flexibility, creativity, communication, and
professionalism in the workplace.
That’s right. The strongest traits needed in the future to build
innovation, and growing economies, are not technical skills,
but human to human skills. Relationships drive progress in
the world, not tech skills.
This is also good news for those of us who aspire to happiness
and lifelong fulfillment. Harvard recently completed a study
of over 75 years following the lives of 268 individuals from
1938 until now.
Through wars, marriages, career triumphs, personal tragedies,
parenting, habits, and daily behaviors, the Grant Foundation
followed these people as they lived (and sometimes died) for
80 years. What they discovered is pretty simple.
They learned that the characteristics of a long, healthy, and
joyful life are strong relationships with other people, and
resiliency through hardship. Religion, political opinions or
sexual orientation made no difference. A happy childhood is
helpful but not necessary.
They learned that learning is a lifelong pursuit and not
restricted to childhood and adolescence. They learned that
the habits you establish before 50 become predictive of mental
and physical stability decades later, and the inevitability of a
mid-life crisis is a myth popularized in the 70s.
According to the study, the strongest behavioral contributors
of a joyful and successful life are the ability to create quality
relationships with those around us, being altruistic with
others, not taking oneself too seriously, finding joy in
alternatives, and persevering through adversity.
Work on the strength of your relationships. It could be the
most important thing you do, both for yourself and your
community. +
Shawn Hunter Founder & President of MindScaling Entrepreneur,
author, idea developer. Shawn has collaborated with hundreds of
business authors, executives, and researchers to create learning
solutions. Shawn’s first company, Targeted Learning, was acquired
by Skillsoft in February 2007. He is the author of Out•Think and
Small Acts of Leadership. Mindscaling.com