Positive Leadership

There are two companies.

Company ‘A’ has asked me to help its Business Leaders know how to spot early signs of stress in direct reports and how to support and engage their employees during challenging times.

Company ‘B’ has asked me to help promote synergies between its departments.

There are similarities between the two: • Both organisations work a lean headcount and the volume of their outputs is high. • Both are highly regulated and they provide products and services to their customers.

There are differences between the two, however: • Company ‘A’ has a legacy of struggling employee engagement scores, high sickness absence and high staff turnover rates. • Company ‘B’ is thriving and enjoys longevity of service from highly committed, happy and healthy staff.

There are many reasons why the two organisations are the way that they are.

One of the reasons is simply down to employee attitude.

Employees in Company ‘A’ tend to focus on meeting their own needs, they often mis-perceive the behaviour of co-workers as being negative and they respond by acting out, with consequences that snowball around the company, to the detriment of all, including their customers.

Employees in Company ‘B’, however, tend to be supportive of their colleagues, they often perceive the behaviour of co-workers as being positive and they respond by generously reciprocating, with consequences that ripple round the company, to the benefit of all, including their customers.

Some of my work with Company ‘A’ is to help them see how their perceptions, attitudes and choices make their own lives and the lives of others unnecessarily complicated, unproductive, unhealthy and miserable.

Some of my work with Company ‘B’ is to facilitate systems and processes that free up workers to share their ways of working, best practices and natural enthusiasm with other departments within the organisation.

Which Company would you choose to work for?..

We are all interrelated and connected. Each of us has unique gifts to offer and through the work we do, we are gifted with being of service to others.

To deny the sharing of your gifts is to cut off from who you really are and deny yourself the full expression of who you are and the abundance that ensues.

If you’re feeling disconnected, stuck or lacking at work, then choose to be a more positive influence in your workplace through the work that you do.

How do you model positive leadership for others?...