Thursday, October 14, 2010
Appreciative Leadership - Five Core Strategies
I recently attended an intensive four-day Appreciative Leadership Development Program©, which is one of many programs/workshops developed and delivered by the Corporation for Positive Change (http://www.positivechange.org/). This program provided many insights and perspectives on leadership. It truly challenges some of the “conventional” or “historical” leadership models and offers a new paradigm for leadership as our work structures and demographics change. Appreciative Leadership is directly linked to a growing and maturing body of work known as Appreciative Inquiry, which David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and countless others have been working on for over twenty years.
There is no way for me to describe all the facets of Appreciative Leadership in this short article; however, I would like to describe five key strategies which are referred to as the Five “I’s” of Appreciative Leadership*. As I describe them, I hope you begin to get a flavor of how this approach to leadership is both different and perhaps similar to strategies that you may have been employing in your own leadership situation.
Inquiry – Asking positively powerful questions. The very way we ask questions tells our audience something about what we are expecting. Appreciative Leaders ask intentionally positive and powerful open-ended questions. These questions set a tone, and invite thought and dialogue. If we ask positive questions, we tend to get positive answers and ideas. When we ask negative questions…. you can finish this sentence. Some simple examples of positive questions might be: “What might we do to increase our revenue by 20% over the next year?” or “How could we improve our processes to reduce cost and increase customer service at the same time?” Note these questions are focused on increasing and improvement, not on “what’s wrong with how things are done now.”
Illumination – Bringing out the best of people and situations. Illumination is about getting people to share stories from their past experiences when they were “at their best.” It literally does not matter what the situation was; just get people to share their stories and then listen intently to discover what it was that enabled them to be their best. As they share their stories, ask clarifying questions to draw out more details and you will discover the strengths of individuals. Share the identified strengths to the individuals telling their stories and you both will see the storyteller’s positive core emerge.
Inclusion – Engaging everyone. When you combine the strengths of individuals, you find the collective strengths of an organization and you begin to get collective ideas about what the future can be! Engage with others to coauthor – to “co-create” the future that you all collectively want. You can imagine how this might be done in an organization, department, or work team. It is also possible to use these first three strategies to bring people together around a new venture, or even to assist you in defining your personal dreams and goals that other people might be involved in.
Inspiration – Awakening the creative spirit within individuals, and also within groups/teams. You inspire people when you ask positively powerful questions, and you bring out the best in people by getting them to tell their stories. When you include people in coauthoring the future that is desired, you inspire people (and they inspire themselves) to new levels of commitment and achievement that could not be otherwise achieved. Real inspiration comes when you “ignite the fire within,” not when you “light a fire underneath.” Inspiration is about looking at a given situation and making a choice to see the positive and create hope.
Integrity – Putting the values and interests of the whole organization first. Integrity is about the leaders, as well as the members of the group, making decisions and acting in ways that are both truly aligned with the values of the group and focused on what is best for the whole. This is about personal integrity, but also group integrity. You know it: you have seen it, you have felt it, when people put the interests of the whole ahead of their own interests . Appreciative Leadership is truly about integrity.
There is so much more to Appreciative Leadership, and I do hope that I have sparked your interest. Learn more about this approach to be better equipped to lead positive change in your life and the world.
I recently attended an intensive four-day Appreciative Leadership Development Program©, which is one of many programs/workshops developed and delivered by the Corporation for Positive Change (http://www.positivechange.org/). This program provided many insights and perspectives on leadership. It truly challenges some of the “conventional” or “historical” leadership models and offers a new paradigm for leadership as our work structures and demographics change. Appreciative Leadership is directly linked to a growing and maturing body of work known as Appreciative Inquiry, which David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and countless others have been working on for over twenty years.
There is no way for me to describe all the facets of Appreciative Leadership in this short article; however, I would like to describe five key strategies which are referred to as the Five “I’s” of Appreciative Leadership . As I describe them, I hope you begin to get a flavor of how this approach to leadership is both different and perhaps similar to strategies that you may have been employing in your own leadership situation.
Inquiry – Asking positively powerful questions. The very way we ask questions tells our audience something about what we are expecting. Appreciative Leaders ask intentionally positive and powerful open-ended questions. These questions set a tone, and invite thought and dialogue. If we ask positive questions, we tend to get positive answers and ideas. When we ask negative questions…. you can finish this sentence. Some simple examples of positive questions might be: “What might we do to increase our revenue by 20% over the next year?” or “How could we improve our processes to reduce cost and increase customer service at the same time?” Note these questions are focused on increasing and improvement, not on “what’s wrong with how things are done now.”
Illumination – Bringing out the best of people and situations. Illumination is about getting people to share stories from their past experiences when they were “at their best.” It literally does not matter what the situation was; just get people to share their stories and then listen intently to discover what it was that enabled them to be their best. As they share their stories, ask clarifying questions to draw out more details and you will discover the strengths of individuals. Share the identified strengths to the individuals telling their stories and you both will see the storyteller’s positive core emerge.
Inclusion – Engaging everyone. When you combine the strengths of individuals, you find the collective strengths of an organization and you begin to get collective ideas about what the future can be! Engage with others to coauthor – to “co-create” the future that you all collectively want. You can imagine how this might be done in an organization, department, or work team. It is also possible to use these first three strategies to bring people together around a new venture, or even to assist you in defining your personal dreams and goals that other people might be involved in.
Inspiration – Awakening the creative spirit within individuals, and also within groups/teams. You inspire people when you ask positively powerful questions, and you bring out the best in people by getting them to tell their stories. When you include people in coauthoring the future that is desired, you inspire people (and they inspire themselves) to new levels of commitment and achievement that could not be otherwise achieved. Real inspiration comes when you “ignite the fire within,” not when you “light a fire underneath.” Inspiration is about looking at a given situation and making a choice to see the positive and create hope.
Integrity – Putting the values and interests of the whole organization first. Integrity is about the leaders, as well as the members of the group, making decisions and acting in ways that are both truly aligned with the values of the group and focused on what is best for the whole. This is about personal integrity, but also group integrity. You know it: you have seen it, you have felt it, when people put the interests of the whole ahead of their own interests . Appreciative Leadership is truly about integrity.
There is so much more to Appreciative Leadership, and I do hope that I have sparked your interest. Learn more about this approach to be better equipped to lead positive change in your life and the world.
* Whitney, Diana, and Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Kae Rader. Appreciative Leadership: Focus on What Works to Drive Winning Performance and Build a Thriving Organization. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. Print. http://www.appreciativeleadershipnow.com/
There is no way for me to describe all the facets of Appreciative Leadership in this short article; however, I would like to describe five key strategies which are referred to as the Five “I’s” of Appreciative Leadership*. As I describe them, I hope you begin to get a flavor of how this approach to leadership is both different and perhaps similar to strategies that you may have been employing in your own leadership situation.
Inquiry – Asking positively powerful questions. The very way we ask questions tells our audience something about what we are expecting. Appreciative Leaders ask intentionally positive and powerful open-ended questions. These questions set a tone, and invite thought and dialogue. If we ask positive questions, we tend to get positive answers and ideas. When we ask negative questions…. you can finish this sentence. Some simple examples of positive questions might be: “What might we do to increase our revenue by 20% over the next year?” or “How could we improve our processes to reduce cost and increase customer service at the same time?” Note these questions are focused on increasing and improvement, not on “what’s wrong with how things are done now.”
Illumination – Bringing out the best of people and situations. Illumination is about getting people to share stories from their past experiences when they were “at their best.” It literally does not matter what the situation was; just get people to share their stories and then listen intently to discover what it was that enabled them to be their best. As they share their stories, ask clarifying questions to draw out more details and you will discover the strengths of individuals. Share the identified strengths to the individuals telling their stories and you both will see the storyteller’s positive core emerge.
Inclusion – Engaging everyone. When you combine the strengths of individuals, you find the collective strengths of an organization and you begin to get collective ideas about what the future can be! Engage with others to coauthor – to “co-create” the future that you all collectively want. You can imagine how this might be done in an organization, department, or work team. It is also possible to use these first three strategies to bring people together around a new venture, or even to assist you in defining your personal dreams and goals that other people might be involved in.
Inspiration – Awakening the creative spirit within individuals, and also within groups/teams. You inspire people when you ask positively powerful questions, and you bring out the best in people by getting them to tell their stories. When you include people in coauthoring the future that is desired, you inspire people (and they inspire themselves) to new levels of commitment and achievement that could not be otherwise achieved. Real inspiration comes when you “ignite the fire within,” not when you “light a fire underneath.” Inspiration is about looking at a given situation and making a choice to see the positive and create hope.
Integrity – Putting the values and interests of the whole organization first. Integrity is about the leaders, as well as the members of the group, making decisions and acting in ways that are both truly aligned with the values of the group and focused on what is best for the whole. This is about personal integrity, but also group integrity. You know it: you have seen it, you have felt it, when people put the interests of the whole ahead of their own interests . Appreciative Leadership is truly about integrity.
There is so much more to Appreciative Leadership, and I do hope that I have sparked your interest. Learn more about this approach to be better equipped to lead positive change in your life and the world.
I recently attended an intensive four-day Appreciative Leadership Development Program©, which is one of many programs/workshops developed and delivered by the Corporation for Positive Change (http://www.positivechange.org/). This program provided many insights and perspectives on leadership. It truly challenges some of the “conventional” or “historical” leadership models and offers a new paradigm for leadership as our work structures and demographics change. Appreciative Leadership is directly linked to a growing and maturing body of work known as Appreciative Inquiry, which David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and countless others have been working on for over twenty years.
There is no way for me to describe all the facets of Appreciative Leadership in this short article; however, I would like to describe five key strategies which are referred to as the Five “I’s” of Appreciative Leadership . As I describe them, I hope you begin to get a flavor of how this approach to leadership is both different and perhaps similar to strategies that you may have been employing in your own leadership situation.
Inquiry – Asking positively powerful questions. The very way we ask questions tells our audience something about what we are expecting. Appreciative Leaders ask intentionally positive and powerful open-ended questions. These questions set a tone, and invite thought and dialogue. If we ask positive questions, we tend to get positive answers and ideas. When we ask negative questions…. you can finish this sentence. Some simple examples of positive questions might be: “What might we do to increase our revenue by 20% over the next year?” or “How could we improve our processes to reduce cost and increase customer service at the same time?” Note these questions are focused on increasing and improvement, not on “what’s wrong with how things are done now.”
Illumination – Bringing out the best of people and situations. Illumination is about getting people to share stories from their past experiences when they were “at their best.” It literally does not matter what the situation was; just get people to share their stories and then listen intently to discover what it was that enabled them to be their best. As they share their stories, ask clarifying questions to draw out more details and you will discover the strengths of individuals. Share the identified strengths to the individuals telling their stories and you both will see the storyteller’s positive core emerge.
Inclusion – Engaging everyone. When you combine the strengths of individuals, you find the collective strengths of an organization and you begin to get collective ideas about what the future can be! Engage with others to coauthor – to “co-create” the future that you all collectively want. You can imagine how this might be done in an organization, department, or work team. It is also possible to use these first three strategies to bring people together around a new venture, or even to assist you in defining your personal dreams and goals that other people might be involved in.
Inspiration – Awakening the creative spirit within individuals, and also within groups/teams. You inspire people when you ask positively powerful questions, and you bring out the best in people by getting them to tell their stories. When you include people in coauthoring the future that is desired, you inspire people (and they inspire themselves) to new levels of commitment and achievement that could not be otherwise achieved. Real inspiration comes when you “ignite the fire within,” not when you “light a fire underneath.” Inspiration is about looking at a given situation and making a choice to see the positive and create hope.
Integrity – Putting the values and interests of the whole organization first. Integrity is about the leaders, as well as the members of the group, making decisions and acting in ways that are both truly aligned with the values of the group and focused on what is best for the whole. This is about personal integrity, but also group integrity. You know it: you have seen it, you have felt it, when people put the interests of the whole ahead of their own interests . Appreciative Leadership is truly about integrity.
There is so much more to Appreciative Leadership, and I do hope that I have sparked your interest. Learn more about this approach to be better equipped to lead positive change in your life and the world.
* Whitney, Diana, and Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Kae Rader. Appreciative Leadership: Focus on What Works to Drive Winning Performance and Build a Thriving Organization. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. Print. http://www.appreciativeleadershipnow.com/
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Just put the finishing touches on an article for The Ballston Journal (http://www.theballstonjournal.com/) The Boardroom. Look for it in next weeks issue (Oct 14th).
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