Build Workplaces With Thriving People + Extraordinary Outcomes
When you think about courage at work, what comes to mind? Maybe it is fire fighters going into a crumbling, burning building to rescue people. Or our armed services deployed overseas, facing the threat of injury or death every day. Or even a pilot safely landing a plane on the Hudson River in critical conditions. … Read moreEveryday Courage in Organizations
An interview with the awesome Michelle McQuaid. Originally at www.michellemcquaid.com Do you lack the authority to create the kind of positive changes you’d love to see in your workplace? Have you tried to get leaders on board and had no luck? What if there was a formula that helped you fly under-the-radar and create the … Read moreCan You Create Change From the Bottom Up?
Chris White On How You Can Make Your Company A Force For Good Christopher J. White is Managing Director of the Center for Positive Organizations and adjunct faculty in Management & Organizations at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. I sat down with Chris when I visited the Positive Business Conference at the … Read moreHow to Make Your Company a Force For Good
Leadership experts make it sound easy: “Follow these simple steps and you will have amazing results!” The typical format is somewhat formulaic. With poise and pithy quotes, we deliver our sticky stories. We boil down thousands of hours of research and experience into a set of snazzy slides and talking points. When they go well, … Read moreIn Defense of Doers
How do you motivate employees to greater levels of engagement and productivity? Maybe you shouldn’t try to do it yourself. For many people, the popular TV show The Office strikes just a little too close to the reality of their day-to-day experience. It is funny because it is true. Consider this example: manager Michael Scott … Read moreHow to motivate people? Don’t do it yourself.
Today, students and professionals are hungering for purpose. Rarely a day goes by without experiencing some manifestation of the great search for meaning in work that is currently underway. Sometimes it appears in the frustration of a loved one about her boredom at work; she wants to contribute more — and more meaningfully. Other times … Read moreCould your calling be all around you?
There is a huge opportunity cost embedded in our highly bureaucratic organizations. Consider a story that Milan Samani, founder of the Intrapreneur Lab, shared with me recently: A group of senior employees at a big pharmaceutical company saw an alternative use for a drug normally used for cosmetic surgery (it also worked as type of … Read moreFour Vital Levers to Sell Your Ideas Internally
Imagine coming to work each morning feeling cared for and supported as a professional—and as a human being. When you are having a hard time, need information, help with problem, or some good advice, your coworkers are there, freely offering their assistance. If necessary, they tap their networks inside and outside the company to find … Read moreFour Ways to Create a Giver Culture
When meeting with leaders interested in building positive organizations, one question recurs more often than the others: “where do we start?” As a manager myself, I can certainly relate to this. Good advice is seemingly limitless. Help to put it all together, however, is in short supply. Followers of the Center for Positive Organizations, based … Read more4 Leverage Points for Being a Positive Leader
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40JYM9-BM-Y&w=854&h=480] What factors should you consider in order to make your next change initiative successful? Jerry Davis and I did the Positive Links session this month. Click the image above to view it!