What can you do when a team has a negative mood? How can you communicate constructively and helpfully with people who raise objections, perhaps even managers? What makes good leadership, and how can positive psychology help?
Trainer Claudia Colantoni answered these and many more questions at the end of October. Eight participants came together for the Goslar Startup and Innovation Academy’s ‘Positive Leadership’ workshop to develop their leadership skills. Leading teams was not the only focus: only people who lead and value themselves well can lead others well.
Claudia Colantoni began by defining positive psychology and distinguishing it from other approaches. In ‘positive psychology,’ founded by the US psychologist Martin Seligmann, each person’s strengths are central. ‘What if we stopped trying to make people fit?’ is one of the guiding questions that challenges many traditional ways of thinking. At work, this could mean placing employees in roles where they can use their strengths as often as possible. This has a positive effect on efficiency and sick leave. At the same time, it is important not to confuse the approach with positive thinking. Positive thinking can gloss over or ignore negative things. Positive psychology recognizes problems and challenges and addresses them actively and constructively.
Important for lasting, positive and more effective leadership:
- Focus on strengths and opportunities for growth:
Investing in strengths can make me outstanding. Investing in weaknesses can bring me only as far as average. - When negative changes occur, look for possible causes:
When did the change begin? What was different before? - Celebrate and acknowledge even small successes:
Review employees’ successful moments each week; these can also form a basis for later staff discussions.
Even if a goal was not reached, the team’s effort can be celebrated (for example, when external factors prevented success). - Offer freedom to make decisions and room to act
- Do not allow gossip within the team
- Show appreciation
The equipment at a workstation and an inviting staff room are part of this too.
The four-and-a-half-hour workshop included numerous exercises and team tasks illustrating how positive psychology can be used in daily work and how important it is to recognize and appreciate small positive things. A trusting atmosphere and great openness characterized the group. Participants left with new ideas and renewed energy, hoping to put their first thoughts into practice for themselves or their teams within the next 72 hours.
