The True Essence of Positive Leadership
Positive attitudes are not just a personal trait but a crucial part of leadership. They serve as a motivation for success in all areas of life, including professional efforts. For instance, a leader who maintains a positive attitude during challenging times can inspire their team to persevere. Conversely, negative attitudes can act as a barrier to personal growth and hinder one's journey towards success. As Prof Peter Ducker once said, " Lifting a person's vision to high sights, raising a person's performance to a high standard, and building a personality beyond its usual limitations." This quote encapsulates the essence of positive attitudes in leadership. (Young.2017)
Leadership is not a trait reserved for a select few. It is a veil anyone can take up, and often they do: for better or worse—the intentions behind their actions and choices truly set apart quality leaders. Traditional theories of leadership state that leaders should have a particular personality, style, power, charm or even a mixture of all three —some say that leaders need to be everything to everyone.
This leads me to consider the following question: If you are everything to everyone, when do you have the opportunity to be your authentic self, to settle your anxieties, pressures, and demands of your professional and private life? When do you, as a leader, have time to develop and grow?
As leaders or followers, we chase the dreams of achievement. We need more time, more money, and more quality of life. We try to please everyone—at work and home—but balancing it all is often impossible. When we overwhelm ourselves, what comes first? Is it our success at work, happiness at home, inner dreams, and life goals—if you have time to find them? If you had to give up something, what would it be? It's not about having it all but managing our resources - time, energy, and focus- ensuring we're not misusing from one area to another.
Life and Leadership is about balance.
This understanding can reassure, alleviate the feeling of being overwhelmed, and build resilience to pressures. But how does that relate to leadership? As leaders, we shape sustainable leadership—where no one is burnt out, overwhelmed, or stressed, and profit is still gained and recognised as not a dirty word. For instance, a leader who promotes work-life balance and encourages self-care among their team members is practising sustainable leadership. This sustainable leadership concept focuses on long-term success and well-being; we must strive to be recognised as value creators, not destroyers, empowering ourselves and our teams to achieve greatness.
The latest advancements in research could be used to improve everyday working life. Two developing psychologists, Deci & Ryan, identified the Self-determination theory. This theory suggests that humans are driven by intrinsic motivation, a deeper level of awareness - which involves a desire for fulfilment, growth, and improvement. However, our external environment and social context can sometimes hinder us; on the surface, we fight for external gratification: Bigger salary, better house or car - External rewards influence our actions. The conflicting interplay between internal and external factors affects our psychological well-being, Consequently, internal motivation relies on three levels: the need for autonomy, mastery, and relatedness to stay motivated.
Autonomy, the power to make choices and decisions, is critical to maintaining intrinsic motivation. External rewards can sometimes diminish this by reducing our sense of control, as someone else determines what the 'Win' means. By emphasising the empowerment of future leaders to make their own choices, we can instil a sense of trust and respect in our audience, facilitating a positive work setting where everyone feels valued and integral to the organisation's success. Bonus systems may not be effective for knowledge workers and professionals motivated by intrinsic rewards—such as expertise status or competence. Intrinsic rewards come from within, such as the satisfaction of doing a good job or the feeling of accomplishment. However, they must be recognised and not undervalued. By highlighting the importance of recognition, we can make our audience feel valued and appreciated.
Mastery or competence is important for feeling in control and doing a good job. Unsolicited and off-the-cuff positive feedback can significantly impact and greatly boost self-belief by reducing unnecessary negativity.
Relatedness, or our connections to others and our community, is also crucial for motivation. Humans Need to belong, feel accepted, and be part of the team - this releases our happy hormones. Internal motivation, the drive for fulfilment and growth, is the cornerstone of social and sustainable success. Money can be spent and time wasted, but the heartwarming feeling you get when you feel happy, engaged, and motivated, have a supportive social context where you belong, and are encouraged to achieve and, as a priority, look after your health first. Relatedness is fundamental in leadership, but why does it matter?
Through our leadership, we can inspire others to tap into their intrinsic motivation, fostering a positive work environment where everyone feels valued and integral to the organisation's success. By recognising and nurturing connection in ourselves and our teams, we create resilience to pressure and demands.Without relatedness, we reduce psychological safety, which is the thought that one will not be penalised or shamed for speaking up with ideas, questions, worries, or mistakes. This lack of safety can diminish a sense of belonging or nurturing in a social environment. We do not feel safe asserting our autonomy, and we do not feel competent. We fight back to regain control through assertiveness to maintain independence.
A recent study in the US highlighted that 60-70% of workers say interacting with their leader is the most stressful part of their role. This statistic underscores the need for leaders to prioritise positive leadership and foster a supportive work environment. Interestingly, this coexists with the failure rate for leaders.
As a leader, you can offer bonuses for performance; however, we don't respond solely to external motivation. Only if we feel nurtured in a social environment and have confidence do rules and regulations become part of a safe social construct of confidence, and with that, we exert autonomy. Without a supportive social environment, an organisation's rules and regulations can become oppressive, demanding, and controlling. This underscores the importance of fostering a workplace-relatedness and psychological safety culture.
As a Leader, Giving the people who work with you autonomy in choice develops confidence, builds good relations, andmakes them feel secure. Good leadership is essential for the effective functioning of society and organisations, protecting from the barriers to leadership and the motivation of your followers. When absent, they lead to Pathology and ill health, as well as a reluctance to contribute to the social environment, self-serving behaviours and attitudes, decreasing trust and increasing biases. Creating negative groupthink. Are you losing good, competent, trained employees because you are creating an environment that rewards performance through demand and pressure, Despite paying good wages, their work-life balance needs to be respected; They have no opportunity for growth or development.
People first—satisfying psychological needs positively leads to health and well-being. They demonstrate positive emotions, engagement, finding meaning, Building social relations, and striving for achievement through goals. If you make a more significant profit, what are you doing to return it to the intrinsic motivation of your employees? What are you investing in? More employees to reduce pressure or increase performance? Create followers where people can fulfil their human needs and have good lives at work and home. Leaders must prioritise their team members, be mindful of their influence on each other, and address any areas of concern or improvement within the team. Create strong, positive leaders by creating sustainable leaders of the future.