Have positive leaders become an endangered species?
It’s tempting to ask this question, as examples of negativity and discord blast headlines. Too much negativity saps our energy and compromises our ability to find necessary solutions. More than ever, we need positive leaders who support people to bring out their best efforts while not ignoring realities.
Over the years, studies of corporate performance reveal that positive leaders:
- Inspire people to have better ideas and find better solutions
- Yield more realistic visions and more feasible plans to attain them
- Inspire higher levels of employee engagement, initiative and productivity
- See more projects succeed and goals reached
- Do better at overcoming adversity and building unity
- Boost levels of employee hope and security
- Outperform competitors with negative cultures (and takes their market share)
- Are more innovative and quicker to market with new products
- Experience improved communication and collaboration
- Have more employees committed to success
A positive leader clearly drives performance, which translates into greater prosperity for everyone. Only when leaders embrace this concept can they make cultural changes that profoundly benefit their organizations.
Culture is established by only one person: the leader. You cannot rely on other people or circumstances to set your workplace tone. You need to determine, initiate, maintain and enhance your organizational culture using your character and leadership traits as primary tools.
Many leaders dismiss positivity as a simplistic notion, but it’s one of the most fundamentally powerful tools in their arsenal—and it costs you nothing. Nonetheless, many intransigent leaders refuse to take the first critical step toward experiencing all the benefits of a positively empowered company.
So, are positive leaders an endangered species? I would answer no; however, we could benefit by having more. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you. You can call me at 561-582-6060, or, I can be reached here or on LinkedIn.
