The theme for today’s show is “helping others to be their best.” I was joined by my friend and colleague, Freeman Michaels, host of The Freeman Michaels Show.

Dr. Srikumar Rao, a leading business thinker and someone I’ve wanted to interview for a long time, appeared on the show to explain his latest book Happiness At Work: Be Resilient, Motivated, and Successful – No Matter What.

To be happy at work, one must be doing work that makes him/her come alive. Live must be “a blast.” When a person is passionate about work, creativity comes spontaneously and naturally.

Dr. Rao conceived the pioneering course Creativity and Personal Mastery. The course combines business know-how with personal development philosophy. It’s so popular that students must bid for a seat. This is the only business school course that has its own alumni association and it has been extensively covered in the media.

Drawing from his own life experience, Dr. Rao told a story of when an important contract was cancelled while he was in New York City. He said he was angry, at first. The anger lasted only 5 or 10 minutes, though. This is counterintuitive. While in New York, Dr. Rao met someone who offered him a keynote speech at a major conference and he met a friend who got him invited to speak at the TED Conference. None of this would have happened if the contract had not been cancelled unexpectedly.

Listen to the entire interview below: