Leading Positively for Extraordinary Results
While every organization seeks to be excellent, most fail. Most of the time they fail, because excellence is a form of deviance. And organizations can’t discern between positive or negative deviance. They just stomp out deviance1. The reason is most companies are still run on the old-fashioned model of focusing on weaknesses and deficit gaps and what needs to be improved and think this will make them more effective. And it’s not working. While focusing on the negative gaps in your performance and those of your team will help you to improve to a certain extent, it won’t actually make you thrive.
Are you still using old methods to solve the new problems you’re faced with? And is your company, like many companies out there, run on the premise that says that a competitive and technological advantage is enough to deal with the challenges you’re confronted with and still meet your goals, even exceed them? Well, think again! The next advantage is behavioral, and produces results way beyond what is considered normal.
There is another way to run your company that involves positive and virtuous approaches to leadership. What is meant by positive and virtuous you may ask? Many might mistakenly conclude that ‘positive’ consists of being soft, syrupy, and smiley-faced. Or that virtuousness is something our grandmothers preached, or is something based in philosophical or religious traditions. And that is understandable.
How can any of this help you as a leader face the tough, hard-nosed competitive challenges your leadership is confronted with? And how will it get your organization to go from good performance to great performance?
In the original Greek and Latin, virtuousness means what is best of the human condition. The highest aspirations we as humans beings have for ourselves is a virtuous state. For example, when you are at your very best, that is a virtuous condition. So how does virtuousness apply to your leadership and your organization? How will it get you from good performance to great performance?
You do this by focusing on the abundance gaps. We are all attracted to positive things and repelled by the negative. Like plants that turn towards the light. When you focus on positive energy, and what is life-giving, and move away from that which is life-depleting, humans do better and they flourish. Just in case you are wondering if there’s a payback on implementing these positive practices, the answer is a resounding YES! And there’s plenty of scientific research to back it up. Across industries, continents, and sectors it has been shown that positive and virtuous practices pay off.
As a leader you are the heartbeat of your organization. Whatever you think, feel, say or do is contagious. Positively and negatively. By positively transforming yourself as a leader, and by bringing out the best in your people and teams, you can achieve extraordinary results well beyond what you’d obtain with the old methods. Organizations that implement these practices, even in troubled times, are more profitable, more productive, more innovative, achieve higher quality, produce higher customer satisfaction, and create higher employee engagement. What’s more, the evidence suggests that these relationships are causal. When virtuous practices improve, organizational outcomes improve as well. Therefore, virtuousness predicts success2.
This is for you if…
- You would like to learn how to leverage your strengths so you can achieve far better results beyond what is expected as well as feel more positive and energized
- You would like to experience more wellbeing, lessen your stress and maximize your energy and potential so you can thrive
- The company bottom line and your shareholders are your main drivers, but you would like to foster a greater sense of meaning and purpose in your company
- You think you are quite effective as a leader, but deep down you know there’s room for improvement to create even greater awareness and get to your next level of performance
- Until now you’ve managed to get along with the knowledge and experience you’ve accumulated in your field, but now are wondering if this suffices to bring out the best in your people and create a high performance work environment
- You would like to create a better work climate
- You want to increase team performance
- You want to improve team engagement
- You would like to know how to gain the trust and following of your team, and subordinates
If you’re interested in finding out how you and your team can benefit from these practices and experience increased levels of performance, engagement and effectiveness that dramatically improve the outcomes that matter to you, it will be my pleasure to meet with you for an appointment to discuss this further.