Positive Leadership! It’s Not What You Think

As a leadership coach and coach mentor, I encourage positive leadership and it’s not unusual to encounter resistance from hard-driving executives with a close eye on the bottom line.

But positivity coaching today is different from when author Norman Vincent Peale preached his positive philosophy of faith and miracles. Today’s positive-psychology movement is founded on empirical evidence. Social scientists have documented the benefits of optimism, emotional intelligence and happiness in multiple work settings, including the executive suite and diverse corporate departments. This has a big impact of leadership.

Positive leadership is no longer seen as a feel-good ideal with little bearing on business results. Mounting evidence reveals that leaders who focus on their people’s positive contributions, while concomitantly achieving tough goals through measurable tasks, enjoy higher performance outcomes.

While positive leadership is gaining traction among CEOs and executive teams, it’s often poorly understood and implemented. University of Michigan management professor Kim S. Cameron, PhD, offers a cogent definition of the term in his new book, Practicing Positive Leadership: Tools and Techniques That Create Extraordinary Results (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2013):

Positive leadership refers to the implementation of multiple positive practices that help individuals and organizations achieve their highest potential, flourish at work, experience elevating energy and achieve levels of effectiveness difficult to attain otherwise.

Positive leadership is a bit more complex than expressing a positive attitude, celebrating progress, encouraging team spirit, fostering positive relationships and espousing inspirational values.

The key is honest communications that support people to bring out their best efforts while not ignoring realities. Often there’s too much emphasis on what people do wrong, and not enough recognition on progress.

Wait! Have you worked for leaders and managers who focus on positive progress? How’d that work for you? I’d love to hear from you; just leave a comment below.

Want to know more? Get the book: Practicing Positive Leadership: Tools and Techniques That Create Extraordinary Results