“Positive leadership” is based on the idea that “satisfied people achieve more than unsatisfied people” and is a management style derived from positive psychology. When Martin Seligman became president of the American Psychological Association in 1998, he gave a speech which would change the direction of research in this area for decades to come.
He urged researchers and scientists to ask themselves the question of what makes people happy and successful in life (instead of simply focussing on crises, conflicts and problems). Since this inaugural address 30 years ago, his work on the subject of personal resilience as a foundation of positive psychology has achieved global recognition.
“Positive leadership”, which is derived from Seligman’s work, is based on these key principles set out by Kim Cameron in his research:
- Personal flow (a combination of high performance and work satisfaction)
- Employee engagement (and their relation to work performance)
- Strength-oriented management (individual employees as well as teams)
- Vision (company values, direction, goals and long-term vision)
Positive leadership looks at what people and companies think of things (without ignoring the challenges), what is already working well in an organisation (in addition to what is not working so well), what should be left to grow (and what should be left alone), what is considered to be good (in addition to what the situation actually is), what is unusual (but also only effective) and what is inspiring (as well as difficult).
Research from Barbara Fredrickson has shown that employees of positively focused management, who channel this positive focus to their employees,
- are more creative,
- undertake tasks with more care,
- are more open-minded
- are more flexible and think in a solution-oriented way,
- display more generosity towards other people,
- are happier with their work,
- openly receive new information,
- think more clearly,
- accomplish more complex tasks,
- are more sociable,
- are less likely to find themselves in situations of conflict,
- take decisions more efficiently and conscientiously,
- are in a position to shift their attention towards a solution,
- are less distracted and
- can evaluate and assess risk well.
With our training and coaching, you will learn
- how to work with new focus,
- promote strength-oriented work in the organization,,
- create a good working environment,
- build healthy relationships,
- communicate positively,
- implement newly learned strategies,
- develop your own positive (and authentic!) management style and
- how to get the results you envisage.
Our training and coaching puts you in a position to positively manage people and achieve the results you want. Get in touch with us for an offer! We would love to hear from you and find out about your company’s needs.
These are the individual specialists for positive leadership
Whitney Breer
Ian Christie
Nicole Dargent