Igniting Positive Change
Resilience could be the key to reduce stress and improve interpersonal skills and workplace well being, this is a good start for any positive organization.
Sharing my recent article on the importance of developing resilience skills at work. Not just for dealing with stressful situations, but also to give us the courage to leave our comfort zone and make our mark! Source: Resilience at Work: So Much More Than Stress Management –
A couple of years ago a former colleague recommended a book that she knew of from her time at McKinsey. I downloaded it onto my Kindle, but I never found the time to read it until recently, when I began browsing the introduction and realized that the ideas presented in the book were completely in line with my passion for all things positive. As I read each chapter, and read the case studies, I found myself thinking that everyone should make the time to read it!
The book is called “How remarkable women lead: a breakthrough model for work and life” by Barsh, Cranston & Lewis (2009) (or read this summary if you are pressed for time!).
While the McKinsey research that lead to the writing of the book and the development of the Centered Leadership Model was originally very much focused on women, the model can be and has since been applied in practice to male and female leaders.
Talent, the ambition to lead, as well as the ability to adapt and change may be the basis for a successful career, but those at the top benefit from additional skills that are not necessarily discussed in a typical career development conversation! And while the model particularly focuses on developing leaders, I really believe that anyone can benefit from the lessons shared in the book.
Those leaders that stand out from the crowd have often developed capabilities in five interrelated areas:
Meaning: “finding your strengths and putting them to work in the service of an inspiring purpose”
Energizing: “managing energy, or knowing where your energy comes from, where it goes, and what you can do to manage it”
Framing: “positive framing, or adopting a more constructive way to view your world, expand your horizons, and gain the resilience to move ahead even when bad things happen”
Connecting: “identifying who can help you grow, building stronger relationships, and increasing your sense of belonging”
Engaging: “finding your voice, becoming self-reliant and confident by accepting opportunities and the inherent risks they bring, and collaborating with others”
(Descriptions quoted from the above-mentioned 2008 McKinsey summary report “Centered Leadership – how talented women thrive”)
So what’s in it for you? My take on this as a coach is that you can use this model to really quickly assess what areas in your work & life will help you in your career development, and which areas you might want to invest in.
Why not get started now? Step 1: Rate your satisfaction with each of these areas on a scale of 1-10. Step 2: Based on your assessment, what areas do you think might benefit from additional attention and care? Step 3: What can you do today to move the needle in the right direction and increase your satisfaction rating in these areas by one or two points?
Ensuring your career is meaningful to you, taking care of your energy levels, building a support network, learning how to bounce back from adversity and speaking up for what you believe in are all really positive steps to take and will benefit you not only at work but also in your personal life. And it will make you more authentic – after all, when you know who you are and what you are passionate about, you become so much more credible and inspirational!
Have a great week!
Best,
Sarah
N.B. the book “Centered leadership: Leading with Purpose, Clarity & Impact” was published in 2014 (Barsh, J., 2014, Crown Business), and McKinsey offer their Centered Leadership Program to all leaders looking to develop their skills.
Great article on positivity at the workplace and how to achieve results with a different approach than usual… good read for leaders and HR: Positive Teams Are More Productive – HBR.
Fantastic reading list with great ideas on how to be happier at work. Thank you Ted.com!
The happy secret to better work: A reading list | ideas.ted.com.
One thought I have found myself thinking frequently since learning more about the concepts of positive psychology is “I wish I had known this 10 years ago”.
At least when I was working in Human Resources in the corporate world – and in large organisations known for their HR expertise – no-one ever mentioned positive psychology to me, or spoke about any of the ideas that are basic principles of this research area. I am sure there are HR teams out there who have embraced some of the concepts and tools – and I’d love to hear more about them – but Positive Psychology does not appear to be as widely spread as it could be in the corporate world. I think it is time to change this!
To name but a few of the advantages of a positive approach:
Problem solving: Research has shown that positive emotions enable us to become more creative problem solvers, broadening our outlook and allowing us to make more connections between topics (I can recommend this paper by Barbara Fredrickson). Conversely, negative emotions tend to cause us to have a much more narrow view of the world, reducing our problem-solving capabilities. Evolutionally, we appear to be programmed to have a negativity bias which enabled our ancestors to quickly identify danger and react very specifically (fight or flight!) to any threats. However in an age where many companies are seeking to innovate and think big, the negativity bias is really not conducive to these goals. The good news is, we can supplement our ancient instincts with more modern approaches!
Inspiring leaders: I have seen many employee engagement surveys where employees cite bad leadership as a frustration, often leading to retention issues. I believe there is an opportunity for leaders to adopt a positive leadership mindset to make them more effective at leading their teams and ultimately reaching their goals. When I have observed managers who seem to have a natural inclination to employ positivity as a leadership tool, I saw employees wanting to please the leader and deliver because they were inspired and energised by them, and did not want to let them down!
To quote Kim Cameron (2008):
“In sum, positive leadership refers to an emphasis on what elevates individuals and organizations (in addition to what challenges them), what goes right in organizations (in addition to what goes wrong), what is life-giving (in addition to what is problematic or life-depleting), what is experienced as good (in addition to what is objectionable), what is extraordinary (in addition to what is merely effective), and what is inspiring (in addition to what is difficult or arduous).
Well-being: Stress at work is increasingly taking a toll on employees’ health, causing more anxiety, increased rates of absenteeism and generally a negative outlook on work. By injecting more positivity, and teaching certain techniques (such as re-framing; three blessings exercise) individuals can learn to deal with daily stresses more effectively and reduce the impact on their mental and physical health. Positive Psychology researchers also champion the idea of stress-related growth – that, given the right support, adversity can actually help us develop certain strengths and beliefs.
Encouraging diversity: The ability to overcome set-backs, put negative experiences into perspective, and continue to focus on goals – in other words: resilience – is one success factor that helps individuals build their career. From my observations, particularly women tend to fall in the trap of attributing successes to luck and circumstances, and failures to their own inability to perform. In fact there is even research that investigates this pattern which is known as the “Impostor Syndrome” (the original research article can be found here , and there is a more recent book by Dr. Valerie Young that is a great read too). As a result, they can underestimate their ability to make a difference at the top, which I personally consider as one of the contributing factors to the lack of females in senior leadership roles. I believe there is a huge opportunity to teach women to recognise their unhelpful thoughts and how to reframe these in a positive way; to build resilience and encourage women to believe in themselves. And positive psychology provides the tools to do exactly that.
Positive psychology is a really motivating and energising approach to work life, and life in general. It’s hard to see the downside to understanding what provides meaning to you and experiencing increased well-being, and improving interactions with those around you. And focusing on strengths, and how to build on these, is such an encouraging way of thinking about development that it seems odd that you would do it any other way!
For those interested in learning more about how to inject more positivity into their work-lives, or just learning more about positive psychology in general, I can recommend the links from my reading list or the videos. And of course you can reach out to me, I will be happy to share what I know!
All the best,
Sarah