When I took on the job of managing partner and chairman at Kearney back in 2018, my message to my colleagues was simple: Take pure joy in your work.

The Financial Times wrote an article about my new tenure and included this challenge: “Joy is an unusual word to hear from a corporate leader.”

I say that it was a challenge because I've always known that we shouldn't settle for anything less than joy at work. I try to be joyfully relentless about whatever matters to me. Whatever I do, I'm going to give it my best and wholehearted passion. After all, I've chosen my path. It's up to me to find and create joy along the way. Without joy, what else really matters?

And I work in an industry that I think is inherently joyful. Consulting is all about helping companies and societies create their success stories. How heady is that? And I get to work with talented and dedicated colleagues who I know won't let me down. That's work to be grateful for.

As I think about what I want to be remembered for—my “echoes in eternity,” to quote from the movie Gladiator—I think about making things better. My parents believed that every generation should make life better for their children. That's a focus of mine, too. I try to live that legacy. For the people at my firm, I want to create an atmosphere where people can be confident and bold, full of purpose. I want to be a multiplier of joy.

For the next generation more broadly, my hope is that you can determine your own source of joy. Find a job you want, pick a workplace that makes sense for you, be yourself, and run your own race. Define your own success and joy. Don't waste your time following anyone else's obligation or path.

We're living in a culture of comparison, which can be incredibly damaging to our psyches. Studies about social media show us that constant envy and comparison lead to despair, not to joy. When we're focused on what other people have, we don't have time to realize who we are, what we care about, and what we can do to create our own happiness now.

You have to be your own board of directors. You have to be the person who determines your own destiny. You have to be true to yourself. There are a million books and movies written about that aphorism because it's true. You know who you are better than anyone else. So don't compare yourself to anyone else. Don't outsource your happiness.

And if you're responsible for other people, lift them up and help them find their path to joy. Your obligation is to create the circumstances for joy: to make it possible for others to run their own race, find belonging, and be themselves. People fundamentally want to be fulfilled. As a leader, you can be a multiplier of joy.

My final advice for you: I have learned that gratitude is the wellspring of joy. Make a list of all the things you're grateful for. Then try to live in the moment and be grateful for that moment. If you're always trying to chase the next rainbow, you'll miss the joy in your life right now.

Be hungry. Be humble. And always run your own race.