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0:00
This is Kim Cameron,
William Russell Kelly
Professor of Management
and Organizations
in the Ross School of Business
at the University of Michigan.
I'm happy
to share with you today
what we're learning about
leading
extraordinary performance
in organizations.
0:17
My objectives today
are to introduce an approach
for achieving extraordinarily
positive performance
in organizations.
So, we'll be focusing
on the organization level
rather than on
the individual level.
I'm gonna share with you
scholarly evidence
supporting the importance
of positive leadership
in creating such performance.
0:38
I will assure you that
everything in the presentation
has an empirical foundation,
that is, it is research-based
and therefore
has established validity.
In addition to that,
there is a theoretical grounding
for each of the points
being made.
There is an explanation
for why. It's not black magic!
In addition to that,
I have either implemented
or have helped organizations
implement each of
the prescriptions
that we'll share. So I know that
there is a practical utility
associated with what we share.
1:10
Usually, leaders approach their
leadership responsibilities
with a prescribed formula.
We usually identify problems,
try to identify,
do an analysis
to identify the causes,
do an evaluation
and identify the best solutions
for those problems,
and then implement a solution.
Or in other words,
the basic assumption
of most leaders is that
my job is to overcome
major problems and obstacles.
That's the way we train
most leaders,
most MBAs, most managers.
There's nothing wrong with that.
And in fact,
if we don't do that well,
we generally
don't keep our jobs very long.
On the other hand, there is
another set of questions
that are left out
with that approach.
I refer to it
as an abundance approach.
It emerges from the work
of David Cooperrider and others
in using an
appreciative inquiry technique.
Question is,
"What's the best we've ever been?"
"What's our highest aspiration
for performance?"
"When have we been at our peak?"
"What are the enablers
of that performance?"
"Now, which of those enablers
can we carry forward?"
So, let's design a future
or a strategy
based on the best
we've ever been
or our highest aspirations.
Or in other words,
my job as a leader
is to embrace and enable
our highest potential.
The future or the strategy
put into place is very different
when one adopts
the right-hand column
compared to
the left-hand column.
And of course,
the right-hand column
is not a substitute
for the left,
it's just simply a supplement
but that supplement
is generally ignored.
We're consumed with problems,
obstacles,
difficulties
in our leadership roles.
