State-Bank-of-India: Positive Leadership

Leadership, especially how we nurture and develop our workforce, has continued to evolve over the last many years. While that is a natural phenomenon of organizational development, cataclysmic events such as the recent Covid pandemic pose enormous adaptive challenges for humanity in general, and businesses in particular. No longer therefore is leadership shaping just the course of our businesses, it is now also directly impacting the quality of the lives, and sometimes even the survival, of its people.

Positive Leadership is an organizational approach that fosters a positive culture at work. Positive leaders see positive potential in their people and empower them to live up to that potential. According to Professor of Management and Organizations, University of Michigan, Kim Cameron, positive leadership goes beyond the conventional definitions of leadership by providing “strategies and practices that enable exceptional levels of performance not normally seen in organizations.” High-performance continues to be a strong priority at work, but it is now accompanied with another indicator of success – wellness. Such is the power of positive leadership that it is believed to be a pre-requisite to an enriched and fulfilling workplace, and happier and more engaged employees.

Positive Leadership is a powerful approach that you too can leverage to develop yourself into an inspirational and effective leader. As a necessary step to learning about Positive Leadership, it is important to identify its anti-thesis, Toxic Leadership. Toxic Leadership is often the elephant in the room in many organizations. One needs to learn to identify its characteristics, and understand how to eradicate it from the organizational DNA. By fostering a culture of Positive Leadership – honing in on the abundance gaps rather than the deficit gaps - you will create newfound employee goodwill and motivation that can then be channelized into positive outcomes for yourself and your organization.