Most executives take it for granted that work comes with stress, tight deadlines, and long days that wear people down. Karim Ghelani sees it differently. After building a career in entertainment and real estate, he has learned that productivity rises when people actually enjoy their work. His mission now is to reshape workplace culture so it is not something employees push through, but something they look forward to every day.
Why Enjoyment Drives Better Business Results
Ghelani’s view comes from watching traditional corporate settings drain energy and creativity from even the most talented people. “We equate work with being work,” he says. “It’s just a word. Work can be incredible.” He is not advocating for lowering standards or avoiding accountability. Instead, he points out that stressed and unhappy employees rarely deliver their best results. His time in the entertainment industry taught how collaboration flourishes when people feel at ease with one another. “When you are doing something creative, we are having a conversation, and we are learning about each other,” Ghelani explains. “That is service. And if I am hopefully enjoying this, then work no longer feels like a burden. It can be fulfilling.”
Building Energy Through Simple Practices
He encourages simple but deliberate practices that can shift workplace energy right away. One of his favorites is beginning meetings with breathing exercises and intention-setting. “How about every meeting you start with breathing exercises? If we incorporated that in the corporate world, it would make the environment so much more relaxed throughout the day,” he says. To Ghelani, these are not distractions but strategic tools. “Visualize, not only imagine, but sensualize what our day will look like. What will it feel like when we land that big account?” he asks. Building camaraderie, he argues, directly translates into performance. “When you have camaraderie in the workplace, you perform at optimal levels. When you perform at optimal levels, you create optimal income. It is a domino effect.”
The business case is straightforward: teams thrive when they genuinely want to collaborate rather than simply tolerate each other. As Ghelani points out, people can sense workplace energy immediately. “You walk into a room and you feel the vibe. Is it a good vibe? Is it a bad vibe? You can feel it. That is human instinct.”
Authentic Communication Changes Everything
For Ghelani, enjoyable work environments depend on real communication, not corporate jargon or intimidation. He illustrates the difference with a simple deadline. “Instead of saying, ‘Alex, I need this done by tomorrow. That’s it,’ I could say, ‘Alex, we gotta get this done tomorrow, man. It makes you feel at ease when I’m speaking with respect, consideration, and compassion.” This mindset extends to everyday courtesy that many leaders forget. “We’re all human beings. Even at the workplace, we’re human beings,” he emphasizes. “Ask, how are your kids? How’s your family doing?” Far from being distractions, these conversations form the foundation for long-term performance. He also challenges a common tactic among executives—making themselves hard to reach in order to appear important. “Don’t make yourself scarce so you look important. For me, if you start ignoring my text, I’m thinking this person is not interested in working with me. It’s actually counterproductive.”
Shaping Tomorrow’s Workplaces with Compassion
Ghelani imagines leaders who balance results with relationships. “Kindness goes a long way in business. Giving encouragement and creating a workplace where compassion is the primary pillar can make work fun again,” he says. That vision includes practical steps such as team-building activities, yoga classes, and community events that build genuine connections between colleagues. He believes the next generation of leaders will need to combine innovation with emotional intelligence. “They have to be very innovative and deeply in tune with their emotions,” he predicts. “The leaders who understand human psychology, philosophy, and technology are the ones who will succeed.”
For Ghelani, authenticity matters as much as strategy. “If you use words like dude, or mate, that is fine because that is you,” he notes. “Authenticity, innovation, kindness, compassion. Just be good to each other. Be productive. Be a CEO, but be a CEO who cares about employees and understands where each person is coming from.” These practices, he argues, create workplaces where people wake up looking forward to the day instead of dreading it. When that shift happens, both individual performance and company culture grow stronger.
Connect with Karim Ghelani on LinkedIn to explore how joyful workplaces drive better business.
