Can you spot the positive leaders in your organisation? In this article you will learn how to, by seeing what positive leaders do.

What is a positive leader?

A positive leader creates an environment that nurtures all the good things in your organisation. They represent and support resilience, optimism, and gratitude – among other things.

Your leaders’ positive attributes impact your organisation in many ways. Perhaps the most obvious impact is in your customer service. A great team in a positive environment creates amazing customer service outcomes.

Let’s look at the seven things that positive leaders do. See if you can identify them in your workplace.

1. Positive leaders expect the best possible outcomes

Positive leaders look for behaviours that exceed expected performance. This means that they look for the good in people, and they have faith in the general decency and goodness of others.

They are more likely to take risks on things that may have a positive outcome. They learn from failures and use them as lessons for achieving future success.

2. Positive leaders focus on what they can control

In any situation, the best thing for you to focus on is what you can do right now. Positive leaders know this.

They are mindful about what is going on right now, and about what they can influence. By focusing only on what they can influence, the positive leader starts to grow his or her influence. This attitude also helps them to be more resilience, because they are able to manage their thoughts, their behaviours and their emotions more effectively.

Focus on what you can control.

3. Positive leaders are emotionally intelligent

Did you know that emotional intelligence is the highest predictor of successful leadership?

There is a direct link between how people feel and how they perform. Positive leaders are highly engaged in their work and with their teams. They are mindful, genuine, empathetic, empowered, and present. This is what helps them to inspire high performance in others, and to be authentically trusted by those around them.

4. Positive leaders cultivate a positive mindset

The choices we make about how we feel affect our attitudes. The choices we make are extremely important. A positive mindset, for example, enables you to be 31% more productive than if you were to be in a negative, neutral or stressed state.

Positive leaders default to the positive choice. They are those people who have a growth mindset, one that is informed by a choice to be happy, flexible and motivated. This then gives them to take more risks, to be more rational, to develop solutions, and to think more deeply about issues in front of them

5. Positive leaders practice positive communication

Expressing gratitude and appreciation boosts the happiness of others. This simple little thing is something that positive leaders know well. If you recall the last leader you had who was appreciative, you probably remember them along with the warm feelings they inspired.

A positive leader knows how impactful it can be to express your appreciation to someone. They will do it at an individual level, and at a group level. By practicing positive communication in the right ratio, it changes the words used, the tone selected, and the body language that supports it. This then feeds a loop of even more positivity, by reinforcing thoughts, beliefs, and motivations.

Positive leaders use the right ratio of positive communications, too. The ratio is 5:1. That is, five positive communications for every one negative.

6. Positive leaders build a positive climate

Laughing makes you feel good, and excited, energetic leaders laugh more! These leaders know that having fun at work doesn’t mean that you are not doing your job. Being able to express positive emotions improves the mood of those around you, and can even improve group performance.

In an organisation with positive leadership, the climate is one of acceptance of different work styles. Positive leaders encourage people to find meaning and accomplishment, to be engaged, and to create positive relationships.

7. Positive leaders focus on strengths in themselves and others

One of the elements of positive leadership that we can all recognise is a when a leader works to his or her strengths, and helps others do the same.

When people’s strengths are used well, they are happier, more resilient, more confident, and more interested in their own development. Positive leaders work to their own strengths, and continually identify and develop new ones, while and helping others to do the same.

At Training x Design we help organisations to develop positive leaders. To find out how you can create a positive leadership team, contact us today.