Information on the Positive Leadership Model

1. What is Positive Leadership™?
‘Good leaders create more economic value than poor leaders and extraordinary leaders
create significantly more economic value than the rest.’
Positive Leadership™ is a proprietary leadership strategy which helps organisations and
leaders (at all levels within the organisation) excel under pressure. Positive Leadership™
aligns closely with business strategy to drive higher levels of performance across an
organisation.
Positive Leadership™ brings people together around a shared purpose and empowers them
to step up and lead in such a way as to create value for all stakeholders. Those who
embrace Positive Leadership™ are authentic and passionate individuals whose work is
shaped by a strong, ‘values-based’ foundation.
Research has shown that organisations which are ‘value-driven’ fundamentally increase
their prospects of high performance. Organisations that take the trouble to ensure that their
values are shared widely are those most likely to achieve long term commercial and social
sustainability.
There are eight fundamental principles of Positive Leadership™:
1. Positive Leadership™ is a choice, an act of the mind and the will. It is a continual
commitment that individuals make to themselves, over and over again.
2. Positive Leadership™ necessitates that organisations and those within the
organisation have values, ideals, standards and integrity. The source of energy
comes from these values and allows individuals to lead by example in a way that
inspires others.
3. Those within a Positive Leadership™ culture show great fortitude, development of
character and depth of capabilities. Positive Leadership™ recognises that winning
generates momentum, but character sustains it.
4. Positive Leadership™ requires individuals to have a clear sense of purpose, for
themselves and for their organisation. With a clear sense of purpose, they can set
goals and develop skills aligned with that purpose. With this in mind, Positive
Leadership™ allows individuals to do certain things particularly well:
 set direction (vision, customers, future)
 demonstrate personal character (integrity, habits, trust, analytical thinking)
 mobilise individual commitment (engage, inspire and influence others)
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2.  engender organisational capability (build teams, manage change)
 thrive on and excel under pressure, continually raising performance to higher
levels (mental toughness - the ability to control stress, motivation, and self-belief
and to focus under pressure).
5. Those who understand Positive Leadership™ create achievable dreams that others
want to share. Their passion can compel others to make things happen.
6. Positive Leadership™ encourages individuals who are determined and never let up
until they reach their dream. They are resilient and therefore do better after they fail
and learn from their mistakes.
7. Positive Leadership™ recognises the importance of constant debriefing. Such self-
reflection is the source of self-awareness, development and personal growth.
8. Positive Leadership™ recognises that impact is magnified through service to others.
The principles of Positive Leadership™ are the foundation for the values which underpin the
Positive Leadership™ model. These core values create enormous energy in both
organisations and individuals practising Positive Leadership™ and sit easily alongside the
existing values of the organisation.
However, values are only meaningful if they lead to desired results (ie financial and non-
financial results which are strategic, balanced, lasting and selfless). Attributes without
results are about as valuable as a playbook without playing the game. Results focus on ends,
not means. Positive Leadership™ is about achieving business outcomes, not just having
the right values. Positive Leadership™ therefore aligns closely with business strategy to
drive higher levels of performance across an organisation.
Leaders focused on achieving results which are aligned with the overall strategic plan for the
business must articulate what they need accomplished, so that no value exists in isolation
from a specific desired result. Values inform results when individuals ask the question: What
is the right thing to do in this case. When they find a clear answer to this question,
individuals produce lasting results.
A Positive Leadership™ culture within an organisation allows individuals to maintain their
poise and performance at all times, even in situations of pressure. Individuals within such an
organisation recognise that these are times of both danger and opportunity and they
maintain a constant, laser-like focus on winning in the marketplace. They become winners
because they are both competitive and courageous in turning the challenges of a crisis to
their advantage. Beyond that, they are passionate about using their leadership to make a
difference.
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3. The Positive Leadership™ game plan for winning therefore provides a seamless link
between:
 the values of Positive Leadership™ , and
 the strategically aligned results which must flow from these values, and
 the ability to sustain these values and deliver these results, even when under
pressure.
It is therefore the combination of values held and results delivered, regardless of
circumstance, which distinguishes Positive Leadership™.
The values which underpin the Positive Leadership™ model and which enable leaders
throughout the organisation to deliver desired results, even under pressure, are shown
below:
THE VALUES OF ‘THE FUTURE BELONGS
POSITIVE LEADERSHIP™ EXCELLENCE TO LEADERS WHO WANT
UNDER TO WIN, WITHOUT EVER
PRESSURE
LOSING TRACK OF THEIR
OWN VALUES.’
CONFIDENCE
MENTAL JEFF IMMELT, CEO,
AND
TOUGHNESS GENERAL ELECTRIC
POISE
OPENNESS
SELF-
RESILIENCE AND
DISCIPLINE
COMMUNICATION
FRIENDSHIP INFLUENCE
TEAM
AND ACCOUNTABILITY AND
SPIRIT
COMPASSION RESPECT
INITIATIVE
COMPETENCE VISION PURPOSE AND JUDGEMENT
CURIOSITY
PASSION DETERMINATION
HARD
INTEGRITY AND HONESTY AND CHARACTER
WORK
ATTITUDE ENERGY
© Positive Leadership Limited 2010
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4. The Positive Leadership™ model is built on six inter-dependant levels, each containing a
number of closely related and complimentary Positive Leadership™ values. The model is
supported by a constant self-improvement process and an understanding that, in the words
of Sir Winston Churchill; ‘You make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what
you give’.
Since leadership is plural and since leaders are made rather than born, those who aspire to
the values of Positive Leadership™ are able to develop the attributes and skills necessary to
become outstanding leaders, regardless of where they sit in the organisation.
 Level 1: The essential qualities of authenticity. These values include the cornerstones of
Positive Leadership™, namely integrity and character, which support all other values.
The most important Positive Leadership™ value is integrity. True integrity (as opposed to
‘integrity by compliance’) is the keystone of leadership; it is the congruence between
what you say and what you do. This level of the model recognises that leadership is
about authenticity rather than style.
 Level 2: The engine room of performance and experience. Everyone has to have a
purpose in life, and every organisation has to have a larger purpose. Purpose is
therefore at the heart of the Positive Leadership™ philosophy and is surrounded by a
number of other values which allow great leaders to make the right decisions.
 Level 3: The bridge to followership. This level of the model encapsulates the values
which allow great leaders to operate in collaborative rather than a ‘command and
control’ mode. Effective leaders reward dissent, as well as encourage it. They
understand that whatever momentary discomfort they experience as a result of being
told from time to time that they are wrong is more than offset by the fact that reflective
backtalk increases a leader's ability to make good decisions.
 Level 4: The keys to competing successfully. In the modern workplace there may be no
more important attributes (for both the organisation and individuals in the organisation)
than the ability to deal with disappointment, focus amidst distraction and demonstrate
values through action. This level of the model reinforces the three foundation levels by
acknowledging the importance of learning from mistakes and failure, maintaining an
open dialogue to build followership and recognising that good values are no use unless
an individual has the discipline to convert those values into consistent actions.
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5.  Level 5: The winning edge. The market is the ultimate test or competitive arena for
those who share the values of Positive Leadership™. Preparing to win and win
consistently in such an arena requires exceptional talent, preparation and support. Being
a successful competitor in business is at the heart of leadership, in the same way that it
is in sport. This level of the model draws extensively on lessons from elite sport and
recognises the importance of developing the ability to thrive under pressure and use the
competitive arena as a source of advantage over others.
 At each level of the model, and regardless of where an individual sits in the
organisation, those aspiring to hold the values of Positive Leadership™ are challenged to
seek self-improvement through constant debriefing and to recognise the wider
contribution which their individual leadership role can have in improving the life of
others.
 Level 6: Taken together, the values of Positive Leadership™ allow those who embrace
such a culture to excel under pressure. It is the combined effect of leaders throughout
the organisation exhibiting the values of Positive Leadership™ that allows the
organisation to outperform its competition. This is the hallmark of Positive
Leadership™ in action.
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Positive Leadership Limited (www.positiveleadership.co.uk
and http://positiveleadershiplimited.blogspot.com) is a strategic leadership consulting firm,
serving clients based mainly in the UK and USA.
We focus on increasing the ‘quality of leadership’ at every level in an organisation, so that
business stakeholders can be confident that these leaders will deliver the right results, the
right way. We build Positive Leadership™ ‘brand’.
Positive Leadership Limited advises its clients on:
 the practical implementation of Positive Leadership™ strategy,
 the development and alignment of business strategy with Positive Leadership™
strategy, and
 the delivery of desired results from aligned strategies.
We also mentor and coach individuals within client organisations who wish to develop and
exhibit Positive Leadership™ values.
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