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You’re a new manager, coming in to meet with your employees. What is the best way to make a good impression and earn trust with the employees quickly? Hint: It’s not by immediately running down your educational background and list of credentials. Instead, try spilling your coffee, tripping as you enter the room, or making some other small but noticeable mistake. The point is, don’t take yourself so seriously.

Sound crazy? It’s not — as long as you really do have the background and credentials to give yourself credibility. For the past 50 years, researchers have been studying how people can make themselves more likable, and one classic study found that a high-performing person who does something a little vulnerable becomes more attractive to those observing.

Happiness! A new puppy? A perfect bowling score? Your favorite pineapple upside-down cake? Those things would probably make most of us happier (although some might opt for chocolate cake instead). Work might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “happiness”.

Even at the wackiest Silicon Valley startup, it’s unlikely that employers will provide puppies, bowling or cake to increase happiness. But business owners know that employee satisfaction is extremely important. Happiness is defined as “subjective well-being” by experts at UC Berkeley. Both research and experience show that happy employees–those who feel more positive emotions and a deep sense of purpose–are more productive.

This little book should be on every leader’s desk—not stuck under a pile of papers, but sitting on top, ready to be consulted every day. It’s well-written, filled with practical suggestions you can implement right away, and thought-provoking.

Corporate voice boils down to whether employees hold back important work-related information that could inform decisions and problem resolutions, or whether they experience the safety, confidence, and trust that encourages them to contribute their fullest. Employees in a culture of silence may perform their jobs, but they will do so as a matter of obedience or resignation. They don’t go out of their way to give their best efforts or to solve problems, even if they have good ideas, mainly because they don’t think leaders will listen to them or value them.

Employees in a culture of voice, on the other hand, contribute their fullest, resulting in open, honest, and healthy communication and innovative problem solving. They are willing to expand their efforts to meet organizations’ goals and advance business objectives beyond fulfilling the basic requirements of their jobs.