Practicing Positive Leadership: Tools and Techniques That Create Extraordinary Results

by Kim S. Cameron

Over a decade ago, Kim Cameron and some colleagues decided that rather than analyze what went terribly wrong with organizations and how to prevent it, they would look at what went extraordinarily right and how to replicate it. This was the birth of positive organizational scholarship, a new field that focused on what they called positive deviance outcomes that far exceeded normal success. In his previous book Positive Leadership, Cameron outlined four leadership strategies Positive Climate, Positive Relationships, Positive Communications, and Positive Meaning that characterize exceptionally high-performing organizations. Here he takes these strategies further by laying out tactics for implementing them: Creating a Culture of Abundance: five specific steps leaders can take to create an organizational culture that enables members to experience vitality, flourishing, and engagement Developing Positive Energy Networks: tools and practices for cultivating positive energy in oneself and for diffusing it throughout the organization Delivering Negative Feedback Positively: techniques for delivering difficult but necessary messages in ways that build and strengthen relationships Establishing and Achieving Everest Goals: guidelines for setting goals that have all the characteristics of SMART goals but go far beyond them Applying Positive Leadership in Organizations: a powerful tool for determining exactly how to implement positive leadership practices in the particular circumstances of your organization Study after study (some of which are cited in the book) has shown that companies practicing positive leadership far outperform their competitors. So virtue may be its own reward, but it also delivers breakthrough results that any organization can achieve thanks to Kim Cameron s concise, how-to guide.

Genres: Business, Leadership, Professional Development, Nonfiction

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good and interesting. It breaks down the concepts in positive institution/organization research into actionable items. However, I just really dislike how business books are written. I find it so soulless and dry. So as much as I also take issue with how academese feels like gatekeeping information between the style and the paywalls of journals, I have much preferred the articles I've read on this topic to this book. BUT, I do think it's a good introduction to the concepts if you either have no interest in or limited access to academic journal articles. Like will I still recommend this book as our book club content at work this fall? Absolutely. But I will complain frequently about how the business mindset brings everything back to money instead of the "goods of the first intent" talked about in chapter 5 🙃

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Cameron's second edition of Positive Leadership, and then compared it with the first...not much of substance appears to have changed. Some examples were updated, and there were some additions, but the overall message was unchanged.

I think it is worth reading, especially for some of the nuggets or takeaways, but the big ideas in the book are not new to anyone who is a student of leadership. The author highlights “four leadership strategies that enable positive deviance " meaning unusually positive results. These include (1) fostering a positive climate, (2) developing positive relationships, (3) engaging in positive communication, and (4) reinforcing positive meaning in leadership efforts. Leaders can and should do such things as regularly express gratitude, communicate in ways that are supportive of their followers, and act in ways that are aligned with their values. He offers several tools for assessment on these attributes, as well as describing tools for action. I particularly appreciated his description and advocacy of PMI - the personal management interview system. Some will object that doing this takes an enormous amount of time, but the truth is that it save much more time (and trouble) in the long run.

Something that makes this book particularly unique compared to most other practitioner-oriented leadership books was the care Cameron took to link his ideas and recommendations back to the evidence from rigorous research. Evidence-based management has become almost a faddishly used phrase, but Cameron does it well.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to more concrete actions after reading Positive Leadership. I’d advise those desiring to figure out how to implement to consult Cameron’s colleague, Robert Quinn’s “The Positive Organization.”

[Sean]

if you are into positive leadership or want to learn more about it, this is a great start. Cameron is a master at portraying this topic.

[Seymour Hersh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent insights on the background thru to,execution of positive leadership within an organization.