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Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Empowerment, Vision and Positive Leadership
http://jmi.sagepub.com/cgi/
Winners Learn From Failure
A Positive Communications Environment Predicts Team Success
An atmosphere of negativity can adversely impact business outcomes. Research published in 2004 has examined the communication patterns of business unit management teams engaged in strategic planning (Losada and Heaphy, 2004).
Results showed the single most important factor in predicting business unit profitability and customer satisfaction – a factor four times more powerful in predicting team success than any other factor – was the ratio of positive comments to negative comments among team members.
Positive comments are those that show support, helpfulness, or appreciation. Negative comments express disapproval, blame or criticism. The researchers concluded, 'we need to have teams within organisations that are able to tap into the liberating and creative power of positivity'.
In a 2004 discussion of innovative ideas for management, Harvard Business Review editor Bronwyn Fryer noted the difficulties associated with the traditional problem-solving management approaches and the growing interest in creating positive, strengths-based organisational environments.
He argued that ‘‘companies where the focus is on amplifying positive attributes such as loyalty, resilience, trustworthiness, humility and compassion – rather than combating the negatives – perform better, financially and otherwise.’’ Fryer concluded that ‘‘a positive workplace atmosphere is worth developing . . . and it may be the foundation of true organisational success’’ (Fryer, 2004).
What is your communications environment like?
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