Empathy, Pro-social Behaviour and

Altruism
https://drjohngkuna.com/the-empathy-altruism-debate-an-empirical-approach/
Please read each statement below carefully and rate how frequently you feel or act in the manner described.
Circle your answer on the response form. There are no right or wrong answers or trick questions. Please
answer each question as honestly as you can.

Never: 0 Rarely: 1 Sometimes: 2 Often: 3 Always: 4

https://www.highdefpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/The-Toronto-Empathy-Questionnaire.pdf

1. When someone else is feeling excited, I tend to get excited too

2. Other people's misfortunes do not disturb me a great deal
3. It upsets me to see someone being treated disrespectfully
4. I remain unaffected when someone close to me is happy
5. I enjoy making other people feel better
6. I have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me
7. When a friend starts to talk about his\her problems, I try to steer the conversation towards something
else
8. I can tell when others are sad even when they do not say anything
9. I find that I am "in tune" with other people's moods
10. I do not feel sympathy for people who cause their own serious illnesses
11. I become irritated when someone cries
12. I am not really interested in how other people feel
13. I get a strong urge to help when I see someone who is upset
14. When I see someone treated unfairly, I do not feel very much pity for them
15. I find it silly for people to cry out of happiness
16. When I see someone being taken advantage of, I feel kind of protective towards him\her
Empathy
◦ Empathy is the action of
understanding and being aware of
another person’s feelings and emotions.

◦ Simply put, empathy is the ability to

step into someone else's shoes, and
to feel and understand their needs.
 Empathy: Innate or Learned ?
◦ Is it genetic (are we born with it) or do we learn to be empathic overtime?
◦ Recent studies suggest that both genetics and our environment play a role in how each
of us develop and process empathy.
◦ Genetics: Certain parts of our brain tend to regulate empathy. Therefore, some
people’s ability to develop empathy can be more difficult if that area of the brain
is not properly functioning .
◦ Our Environment: our environment (how we are raised and our life experiences)
tends to make the largest impact on each of us in developing empathy.
◦ Like the development of any social skill, what is key to learning empathy is experience,
learning, and practice.
Why is it important to have empathy?

◦ It is an important social skill.

◦ Empathy allows you to better connect with people and foster healthy
relationships.
◦ Empathy encourages us to respect and care for each other.
◦ Empathy encourages us to show compassion, understanding for others, and
helps make our communities a better place to live.
◦ Lastly, effective leaders are empathetic.
Developing and Building Empathy

How???
UNDERSTANDING YOUR OWN EMOTIONS
Building Empathy, Starts with Yourself.
Reducing Empathy Gap with oneself: If you want to understand
the emotions of others, you have to learn to empathize with
yourself, which is done by understanding and accepting your own
feelings and expressing them.
IDENTIFYING AND READING THE EMOTIONS IN OTHERS.

To be empathetic, you need to be able to understand how others are feeling.

• When people express their feelings verbally, it is important to listen.
• However, in many cases feelings are expressed by non-verbal means (facial
expressions, postures, and tone of voice), which can be harder to read.
• To better understand how people are feeling, we need to improve our ability to
read these non-verbal signs. This can be done with being more aware and
practice.
USE YOUR IMAGINATION AND
PLACE YOURSELF IN THE PLACE OF
OTHERS
 You can use your imagination to gain a
better understanding of how someone
might feel.
 “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in
his shoes.”
LISTEN TO PEOPLE’S FEELINGS

◦ Empathy can also be developed by listening to people’s feelings.

◦ An empathetic person will show interest not only to their friends’ feelings but of
those who are outside their social circle.
◦ If someone shares with you their feeling or problems, be willing to listen. By
being a good listener, allows you to obtain a better understanding of their world
and is an empathic gesture.
◦ A human being is part of the whole, called by us the “universe.” He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as
something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is kind of a prison
for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to
free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of
nature in its beauty.

◦ Albert Einstein
If you look to lead, invest 40% of your time managing yourself – your
ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct.
Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15%
managing your peers.
Use the remainder to induce those you ‘work for’ to understand and
practice these principles. I use the term ‘work for’ advisedly, for if you
don’t understand that you should be working for your mislabeled
‘subordinates’, you haven’t understood anything.

◦ Dee Hock, CEO

◦ VISA International
◦ Pro-social motivation (Egoistic Motivation) vs Altruistic motivation

◦ What’s the ultimate goal: To increase one's own welfare vs. to increase another's welfare.
Altruism
◦ Altruism refers to a specific form of motivation for one organism, usually human, benefiting another

◦ If one’s ultimate goal in benefiting another is to increase the other’s welfare, then the motivation is altruistic.

◦ If the ultimate goal is to in crease one’s own welfare, then the motivation is egoistic.
Is Altruism Part of Human Nature
◦ we humans devote much time and energy to helping others.

◦ We send money to rescue famine victims halfway around the world—or to save whales.

◦ We stay up all night to comfort a friend who has just suffered a broken relationship.

◦ We stop on a busy highway to help a stranded motorist change a flat tire.

◦ Why do we humans help?

◦ We help because we have no choice, because it is expected, or because it is in our own best interest.

◦ We may do a friend a favor because we do not want to lose the friendship or because we expect to see the favor reciprocated.
Learned Helplessness vs. Learned
Optimism

Positive Psychology in Everyday Life

Rajbala Singh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmFOmprTt0

https://hbr.org/2012/06/learned-helplessness-in-organi
Setting the Context!
 The Five Monkeys Experiment
An experimenter puts 5 monkeys in a large cage. High up
at the top of the cage, well beyond the reach of the
monkeys, is a bunch of bananas. Underneath the
bananas is a ladder. The monkeys immediately spot the
bananas and one begins to climb the ladder. As he does,
however, the experimenter sprays him with a stream of
cold water. Then, he proceeds to spray each of the other
monkeys.
The monkey on the ladder scrambles off. And all 5 sit for
a time on the floor, wet, cold, and bewildered. Soon,
though, the temptation of the bananas is too great, and
another monkey begins to climb the ladder. Again, the
experimenter sprays the ambitious monkey with cold
water and all the other monkeys as well. When a third
monkey tries to climb the ladder, the other monkeys,
wanting to avoid the cold spray, pull him off the ladder
and beat him.
Now one monkey is removed and a new monkey is
introduced to the cage. Spotting the bananas, he
naively begins to climb the ladder. The other monkeys
pull him off and beat him.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The experimenter
removes a second one of the original monkeys from
the cage and replaces him with a new monkey. Again,
the new monkey begins to climb the ladder and, again,
the other monkeys pull him off and beat him -
including the monkey who had never been sprayed.
By the end of the experiment, none of the original
monkeys were left and yet, despite none of them ever
experiencing the cold, wet, spray, they had all learned
never to try and go for the bananas.
• Lab experiments on dogs: Martin Seligman (1965)
– Conditioned: High pitched sound w/ shock
– Large box w/ 2 compartments
– Shock delivered on 1 side of box
– Dog needed to jump over barrier to escape shock
• Experiment results:
– Dogs did not cross barrier
– Lied down and took the shock
– During part 1 of study, dogs learned they
were helpless to avoid the shock paired
with the noise
– Futility of escape
• The Misconception: If you are in a bad
situation, you will do whatever you can do
to escape it.

• The Truth: If you feel like you aren’t in

control of your destiny/ effort, you will give
up and accept whatever situation you are
in.
 Learned Helplessness

Condition resulting from the perception

we have no control over the event/
situation/ environment
 Learned Helplessness in Organizations
by Ron Ashkenas
Cautionary tale of cultural disempowerment: GE
The CEO was asked to reduce bureaucracy and speed up
decision-making in GE’s former nuclear business — but was told
that nothing could be done because every procedure was based
on government regulations. “We’re talking about nuclear reactors
here,” the managers said, “If we change the way we do things,
something could blow up!”

Undaunted by their response, The CEO asked the managers to

simply list all of their reports, approval procedures, reviews, audits,
metrics, decision forums, standing meetings, and other
management processes.
Eureka Moment: He (The CEO) then had
them identify which ones the government
required, and which had been created
internally.
Much to the managers’ amazement, the vast
majority of these management processes
were self-generated — which meant that
they could streamline much more than they
had thought.
What are “real-life” examples
of learned helplessness
• Examples
• Political process: People are becoming
discouraged with the political process
and may not turn vote or may turn to
vote casually because nothing gets done.
• Weight loss programs: There are so
many weight loss programs that are
ineffective that they discourage people.
• Studying for class: Students with poor
study skills or are using ineffective
strategies start to give up on their
classes and resign themselves to poor
grades.
 “War on Terrorism”
 Dealing with problems of CEOs and
CFOs “cooking the books”
 Getting a job
– Not having the job skills or connections
– Rules not being applied equally or fairly
– Rules created to bias a particular group
based on criteria irrelevant to the job.
 Learned Helplessness among Students

• Students who approach assignments with very low

expectations of success and give up quickly.

• Condition where a student believes that no matter

how hard he or she tries, failure will result.
 Learned Helplessness among
Employees
• Organizational procedures and experiences
can also induce learned helplessness
among employees

– Salespeople are also prone to developing a feeling of

helplessness where they stop trying because they have
convinced themselves about the impossibility of achieving
the stated goal. These employees will continue to exhibit
the same helplessness even when market conditions do
allow exceptional sales growth.

– Helplessness can become habit

 External Locus of Control

• Do you think learned helplessness and

external locus of control are the same
thing?

• How might they be similar, different?

 Attribution and Learned Helplessness
vs. Learned Optimism
• An internal attribution is any attribution that gives the cause of an event as
something to do with the person, as opposed to something in the outside world.
For example, if you believe you failed the test because you're stupid, that's an
internal attribution. Compare that to believing that the test was hard - that's an
external attribution; you're blaming the test, which is outside of your control.
• A stable attribution is one that doesn't change over time or across situations. For
example, believing that you failed because you're stupid is a stable attribution; the
fact that you're stupid won't change depending on the situation. Compare that to
believing that you failed because you didn't study enough. That's not a stable
attribution because next time you can change that and study more.
• Finally, a global attribution is the belief that the factors affecting the outcome
applies to a large number of situations, not just one of them. For example,
believing you failed the test because you're stupid is a global attribution because it
is true in that class and in many others. However, if you believe that you failed the
test because you're bad at that particular subject, it is specific; just because you
failed the math test, doesn't mean that you'd fail an English test.
• I Am STUPID
– Internal, Stable and Global
• I am a lousy Person
– Internal, but as stable and global as first one
• I am not good under Pressure
– Internal, Moderately stable and global
• I could not sleep last night
– External, stable and Specific
 Signs of Learned Helplessness

• Attribute failures to lack of ability rather than

controllable causes such as insufficient effort or
reliance on an inappropriate strategy.

• Attribute successes to external and

uncontrollable causes rather than to their own
ability or effort.

• Following failure, make severe reductions in

their estimates of future success probabilities.
• Attribution/ Explanatory Style: How we interpret and
explain what happens to us and the behavior of others.
• Example:
• If someone’s feeling nervous while preparing for an
important exam, they may adopt one of the following
viewpoints:
• Helpful: This test is hard, so I’ll make a study plan and ask
others for advice.
• Unhelpful: This test is hard, so I’ll probably fail it no matter
what I do.
• If they get a negative result, they might respond in one
of two ways:
• Helpful: The material was challenging, but now I know what
to expect and how to study.
• Unhelpful: I knew I wasn’t going to pass, and now I feel
stupid. This was a waste of my time — there's no point in
taking this test again.
Habits of Thinking : Optimism vs. Pessimism
– Pessimists habits of thinking about bad events:
• To blame themselves
• To believe that these events will last a long time
• The consequences of these events will undermine
everything they do
– Optimist do the opposite
• Circumstances or bad luck or other people are
responsible for bad events
• Defeat Experience is temporary
• Effects are limited to this specific area of life
At the core feeling of helplessness/ control
make a difference
 Three ways pessimists and
optimists explain negative events

Pessimist Optimist
Duration Forever Passing
Scope Far-reaching Particular-
Limited
Cause Fault Practical
finding and Reasons
blaming What can I
learn??
 Chronic
Lack of
negative
Internal control over
feelings,
Stable, Global future events
depression
(I failed the (There is nothing
Passive
PES exam because I can do about it.
behaviour,
I will never go
I am stupid) Learned
through college.)
helplessness

Attrib- Attributions Expectations Outcomes

- Event
ution
Style
External, Control over
Stable, future events Temporary
specific “I will have more negative
“I failed at exam time to study feelings
OES because unusual next time and I Active goal
pressure at work will do much directed
prevented me better” behaviour
from studying”
 Learning Optimism
• In Ellis’s A-B-C model, he explains how our
appraisal (or beliefs about stressful events)
is critical to the coping process.
– Negative appraisals (or beliefs) are often associated with
catastrophic thinking, which exaggerates the magnitude of
our problems.
– Positive (realistic and/or optimistic) appraisals allow
constructive coping.
• The Ellis’s ABC Model
– A = Adversity. We think about it and form a set of
– B = Beliefs. We form a set of beliefs and these beliefs
have
– C = Consequences. The consequences are that they
will affect the actions we take.
Common sense
view
Activating
Consequence
Agent

Consequences
Ellis’s View Belief System
Healthy
Activating Rational negative
Agent Approaches emotions
vs. vs.
Irrational unhealthy
Approaches negative
emotions
 HOW TO USE THE ABC MODEL

• Vividly recall a recent adverse event. After recording

the A, fill in the C, then the B. Or, you might follow
an ABC order. Choose the method that works best for
you.

• A: Describe the event objectively. Answer these

questions: Who? What? Where? When?

• B: Record your thoughts about the event. Why do

you think it happened?

• C: Record your feelings and actions.

 Case Study: Relational Dilemma-
Reactions to Self and Other

Rani has been consciously living a healthy

lifestyle for more than two months. She finds out
that she wasn’t invited to a party at school, but
her friend Rekha was invited. Rani thinks to
herself, Rekha always gets invited to things; I
never do. I am such a loser—nobody likes me.
She gets very sad, doesn’t go out jogging, and
eats a whole box of candy instead.
What are the ABCs in this scenario?

Adversity = “didn’t get invited to the party

to which her friend was invited”

Beliefs= “I am such a loser—nobody likes

me.”

Consequences= feels sad, even depressed.

Has no motivation to go jogging and eats a
whole box of chocolates despite her focus
on healthier living
Here is another reaction:

ABC showing how another person, Vani, reacts to the

same situation
That’s disappointing, but I actually don’t know them very
well. Rekha knows them far better. That’s probably why
I wasn’t invited.

• The adversity (A) remains the same, but Vani’s belief

(B) is different. Thinking that she wasn’t invited
because “I actually don’t know them very well” helps
Vani let go of initial feelings of disappointment, do
things that help her feel more positive about herself,
and enjoy the rest of the day (C).
ABCDE Model
• The roots of catastrophic thinking
– Unrealistic, negative appraisals stem from irrational
assumptions we hold:
1. “I must have love and affection from certain people.”
2. “I must perform well in all endeavors.”
3. “Other people should always behave competently
and be considerate of me.”
4. “Events should always go the way I like.”
• Catastrophic thinking can be
reduced by
– Learning to detect it when it occurs.
– Learning to dispute irrational assumptions.
– Defusing stressful situations with humor.
– Reinterpreting stressful situations in a more positive
light.
How can we work
with Learned
Helplessness?
Overcome Learned Helplessness By Wisely
Investing Mental Energy
https://medium.com/wholistique/overcome-learned-helplessness-by-wisely-investing-mental-energy-73308b44a36a
1.Create an atmosphere in which it is OK to
make mistakes:

2.Walk the talk!

3.Make sure that you are socially connected to

right set of people

These three things together helps in

continuous maintenance and updating of your
belief system as the belief is the root cause of
feeling of helplessness
 Inno va tio n a nd Le a d e rship
thro ug h Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y

[G ra b yo ur re a d e r’ s a tte ntio n
with a g re a t q uo te fro m the
Keith
d o c ume nt oP. Gatto,
r use this spPh.D.
a c e to
Positive Psychology
e mp ha size a ke y p o int. ToFellow
Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership
p la c e this te xt b o x a nywhe re
[email protected] | (510) 664-4464
o n the p a g e , just d ra g it.]
Up da te d 8/16
 Ta b le o f C o nte nts
C o nc e p tua l Fund a me nta ls......................................................................................................... 2
Why Inno va tio n is Imp o rta nt.................................................................................................... 2
Ho w Le a d e rship Affe c ts Inno va tio n ....................................................................................... 2
A De finitio n o f Inno va tio n ........................................................................................................ 3
Ante c e d e nts fo r Inno va tio n .................................................................................................... 3
De finitio n o f Psyc ho lo g y ........................................................................................................... 4
De finitio n o f Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y ............................................................................................ 4
Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y Fra me wo rk.................................................................................................. 5
Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd O rg a niza tio na l Be ha vio r .................................................................. 5
Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd Le a d e rship ...................................................................................... 6
Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd Inno va tive Be ha vio r ...................................................................... 6
Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y’ s C ha ra c te r Stre ng ths ........................................................................... 6
Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd the Eng ine e ring Disc ip line ................................................................ 7
Eng ine e rs a re a mo ng the First Te st G ro up fo r Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y in the Wo rkp la c e .... 7
Ho w a Numb e r o f Silic o n Va lle y C o mp a nie s ha ve Imp le me nte d Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y in
the ir Wo rkp la c e ......................................................................................................................... 8
Exp e rie nc e s a t C o mp a nie s b e yo nd Silic o n Va lle y .................................................................. 9
The Thre e -Da y Exe c utive Ed uc a tio n Exp e rie nc e ................................................................... 10
The Are a s o f Stud y within the Pro g ra m ................................................................................ 11
The Pro g ra m Pro je c t ............................................................................................................... 12
O ng o ing We b ina rs.................................................................................................................. 12
Ne two rking O p p o rtunitie s...................................................................................................... 12
Fe e d b a c k fro m O ur Pa rtic ip a nts .......................................................................................... 13
The Be rke le y Ac a d e mic Te a m ................................................................................................. 13
O ur Ind ustry Instruc to rs ........................................................................................................... 14
The Ind ustry Ad viso ry Bo a rd ................................................................................................... 14
Re fe re nc e s .................................................................................................................................. 16
Ap p e nd ixe s ................................................................................................................................. 19
Ap p e nd ix A - Bio s o f the Pro g ra m’ s 2016 -2017 Ind ustry Ad viso ry Bo a rd ........................ 19
Ap p e nd ix B – De finitio ns ........................................................................................................ 23

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©2016 G a tto , All Rig hts Re se rve d
 C o nc e ptua l Funda m e nta ls

Why Inno va tio n is Im po rta nt

Inno va tio n is c o nsid e re d a ke y stra te g ic e le me nt b y mo st o rg a niza tio ns a nd ha s a
d ire c t e ffe c t o n o rg a niza tio n p e rfo rma nc e (Ba re g he h, Ro wle y, & Sa mb ro o k, 2009;
Vina rski-Pe re tz & C a rme li, 2011). Thro ug h the inno va tio n p ro c e ss, p e o p le who c o mp rise
o rg a niza tio ns a re a b le to ra p id ly re sp o nd to b o th c ha ng ing ma rke t d yna mic s a nd
c usto me r d e ma nd s (Ba re g he h e t a l., 2009) thro ug h the o ng o ing a d a p tio n o f the ir
p ro d uc ts, g o o d s, a nd se rvic e s (Ba re g he h e t a l., 2009; Ma hsud , Yukl, & Prussia , 2011). The
inno va tio n p ro c e ss g ive s o rg a niza tio ns the a b ility to b e c o me c o mp e titive a nd re c o ve r o r
susta in a c o mp e titive e d g e within the ma rke tp la c e (G a nte r & He c ke r, 2013). Inno va tio n
itse lf is b o th c re a te d a nd a d va nc e d b y ind ivid ua ls (G o e p e l, Hö lzle , & zu Knyp ha use n ‐
Aufse ß, 2012). O rg a niza tio na l inno va tio n d e p e nd s o n e a c h e mp lo ye e g e ne ra ting ne w
id e a s a nd e ng a g ing in a sso c ia te d b e ha vio rs to imp le me nt tho se id e a s (Ta n & Na surd in,
2011) in a n e ffe c tive a nd e ffic ie nt ma nne r. Le a d e rship the n b e c o me s a ke y fa c to r in the
o rg a niza tio n’ s a b ility to inno va te (Hsia o & C ha ng , 2011), a nd le a d e rs, b y virtue o f the
o rg a niza tio n a utho rity o r c o mmunity influe nc e , b e c o me p o we rful p ro mo tio na l a g e nts o f
inno va tio n within the ir o rg a niza tio ns (O ke , Munshi, & Wa lumb wa , 2009).

Ho w Le a de rship Affe c ts Inno va tio n

In a ny o rg a niza tio n, the a c t o f le a d e rship is o ne o f the mo st influe ntia l p re d ic to rs
o f inno va tio n (Ro sing , Fre se , & Ba usc h, 2011), a nd in o rd e r to d rive the inno va tio n p ro c e ss
fo rwa rd , the rig ht typ e o f le a d e rship is p a ra mo unt (O ke e t a l., 2009). Le a d e rs who
inc o rp o ra te stra te g ie s a nd te c hniq ue s insid e the ir c ulture s, tha t a re fo c use d o n c re a ting
e nviro nme nts tha t sup p o rt e mp lo ye e s g e ne ra ting b e tte r id e a s a nd ta king c a lc ula te d
risks, d e mo nstra te le a d e rship tha t is mo re like ly to le a d to inno va tive wo rk b e ha vio r (O ke
e t a l., 2009).

Le a d e rship c a n b e d e fine d a s “ the p ro c e ss whe re b y a n ind ivid ua l influe nc e s a

g ro up o f ind ivid ua ls to a c hie ve a c o mmo n g o a l” (No rtho use , 2010, p . 10). Tra d itio na lly,
the a b ility to “ influe nc e p e o p le ” ha s a lso b e e n a sso c ia te d with hie ra rc hic a l a utho rity.
O ve r the p a st d e c a d e a g ro wing numb e r o f c o mp a nie s (e sp e c ia lly tho se in the
te c hno lo g y ind ustry) ha ve b ro a d e ne d the le a d e rship p a ra d ig m to inc lud e a nyo ne in the
o rg a niza tio n who c a n ha ve imp a c t a nd influe nc e o n o rg a niza tio na l g o a ls, no t just tho se
in a utho rity. The use o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y’ s c ha ra c te r stre ng ths infuse d into o ne ’ s
le a d e rship style is hig hly suite d to this ne w fro ntie r o f le a d e rship b e c a use c ha ra c te r
stre ng ths a re uniq ue a nd inna te to e a c h p e rso n. It e na b le s p e o p le to le a d fro m the ir c o re
se lve s inste a d o f fo llo wing a the o re tic a l mo d e l tha t ma y o r ma y no t b e e ffe c tive , g ive n
the p e rso na lity typ e o f the le a d e r.

2
©2016 G a tto , All Rig hts Re se rve d
A De finitio n o f Inno va tio n
The c o nc e p t o f inno va tio n c a n b e tra c e d b a c k to a nc ie nt G re e c e in the 5th
c e ntury B.C . (G o d in, 2015). At the time , it w a s no t id e ntifie d with e ithe r b usine ss o r the
c o mme rc ia liza tio n o f a te c hnic a l inve ntio n, b ut ra the r with the p hilo so p hic a l me a ning o f
intro d uc ing c ha ng e into the e xisting so c ia l o rd e r, mo st no ta b ly the p o litic s o f the d a y
(G o d in, 2015). So me a nc ie nt p hilo so p he rs, inc lud ing Aristo tle a nd Pla to , sa w inno va tio n
a s a n intro d uc tio n o f c ha ng e into the c ulture o r p o litic a l syste ms tha t wa s no t c o nsid e re d
d e sira b le (G o d in, 2015). Anc ie nt Eg yp tia ns e ve n fo rb a d e inno va tio n in the ir a rtwo rk o r
d a nc e (G o d in, 2015). Inno va tio n wa s vie we d with susp ic io n b e c a use it wa s se e n a s
c ha ng ing the ve ry und e rp inning s o f the e xisting so c ia l o rd e r, thus c a using unc e rta inty
(i.e ., re fo rma tio n, re vo lutio n, a nd so c ia l re fo rm) (G o d in, 2015) in the ve ry fib e r o f d a ily life
in a c o mmunity o r o rg a niza tio n. This a rg ua b ly c a use d ne g a tive e mo tio ns a ro und c ha ng e
o r inno va tio n tra uma (Vä lika ng a s, Ho e g l, & G ib b e rt, 2009). Suc h tra uma s c a n ha ve a n
imp a c t o n the fo ur a nte c e d e nts o f inno va tio n: c re a tivity, e ng a g e me nt, p o sitive wo rk
c ulture , a nd p o sitive e mo tio ns. It c o uld b e a rg ue d tha t fe a r o f c ha ng e is still p re se nt in
ma ny wo rk c ulture s. Po sitive p syc ho lo g y, a s a fie ld , is c e nte re d o n we ll-b e ing , o p tima l
func tio ning , c ha ra c te r stre ng ths, a nd p o sitive e mo tio ns ra the r tha n vie wing thing s fro m a
fe a r-b a se d p e rsp e c tive .

The 21st-c e ntury d e finitio n o f inno va tio n is va stly d iffe re nt fro m wha t wa s o rig ina lly
e nvisio ne d b y the a nc ie nt wo rld . O ne d e finitio n fo r the 21st c e ntury is: “ Inno va tio n is the
multi-sta g e p ro c e ss whe re b y o rg a niza tio ns tra nsfo rm id e a s into ne w/ imp ro ve d p ro d uc ts,
se rvic e s, o r p ro c e sse s in o rd e r to a d va nc e , c o mp e te , a nd d iffe re ntia te the mse lve s
suc c e ssfully in the ir ma rke tp la c e ” (Ba re g he h e t a l., 2009, p . 1134). This multi-sta g e p ro c e ss
b re a ks d o wn into thre e p a rtic ula r ta sk a re a s in whic h le a d e rs c a n fo c us the e mp lo ye e s’
inno va tive b e ha vio r. The se thre e a re a s a re id e a g e ne ra tio n, id e a p ro mo tio n, a nd id e a
re a liza tio n (Rie tzsc he l, 2011).

Ante c e d e nts fo r Inno va tio n

The c o nc e p t o f inno va tio n ha s e vo lve d thro ug ho ut the c e nturie s to b e c o me a
p ro c e ss (Ba re g he h e t a l., 2009) tha t whe n a p p lie d c a n no t o nly c re a te te c hno lo g ic a l
a d va nc e me nts, b ut a lso re sult in p o sitive c ha ng e to the huma n c o nd itio n a nd sp irit.
Inno va to rs c a n a lso e xp e rie nc e a hig h fa ilure ra te (Vä lika ng a s e t a l., 2009). The re fo re , it
is imp o rta nt fo r le a d e rs to und e rsta nd the fa c to rs tha t le a d up to the inno va tio n p ro c e ss
a nd g e a r the ir le a d e rship e ffo rts to wa rd ma ximizing p o te ntia l inno va tio n b re a kthro ug hs,
whe the r in p ro c e sse s o r p ro d uc ts.

Inno va tio n ne e d s c e rta in a nte c e d e nts fo r the d e sire d c ha ng e o r inno va tio n to

ta ke p la c e . The se a nte c e d e nts inc lud e c re a tivity (Eise nb e iß & Bo e rne r, 2010), a n
e ng a g e d wo rkfo rc e (Bha tna g a r, 2012), a p o sitive wo rk c ulture (Ship to n, We st, Pa rke s,
Da wso n, & Pa tte rso n, 2006), a nd p o sitive e mo tio ns (Fre d ric kso n & C o hn, 2008).
Ma na g e me nt tha t a llo ws le a d e rship to b e c re a tive a nd d e p lo y va rio us le a d e rship style s

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a d d re ssing the se fo ur a nte c e d e nts p la ys a la rg e ro le in c re a ting a n e nviro nme nt o f
inno va tio n within the ir o rg a niza tio ns (Hsia o & C ha ng , 2011). This is true no ma tte r wha t
mo d e l o f le a d e rship is g e rma ne to the o rg a niza tio n: hie ra rc hy a nd re sp o nsib ility o r
imp a c t a nd influe nc e (whic h e na b le ind ivid ua l c o ntrib uto rs to b e c o nsid e re d le a d e rs).

De finitio n o f Psyc ho lo g y
The wo rd p syc ho lo g y is ma d e up o f two G re e k ro o ts, p syc he , me a ning mind , a nd
lo g o s, me a ning wo rd (Ka la t, 2013), a nd is tra nsla te d a s the stud y o f the mind (Ka la t, 2013).
The Ame ric a n Psyc ho lo g ic a l Asso c ia tio n d e fine s the fie ld o f p syc ho lo g y a s fo llo ws:
“ Psyc ho lo g y is the stud y o f the mind a nd b e ha vio r. The d isc ip line e mb ra c e s a ll a sp e c ts
o f the huma n e xp e rie nc e …in e ve ry c o nc e iva b le se tting …the und e rsta nd ing o f b e ha vio r
is the e nte rp rise o f p syc ho lo g ists” (APA, 2013).

The und e rsta nd ing o f huma n b e ha vio r a nd the huma n e xp e rie nc e is no t o nly a
ve ry b ro a d d e finitio n, b ut it c a n a lso e nc o mp a ss ma ny sub -d isc ip line s within the fie ld o f
p syc ho lo g y. Exa mp le s inc lud e : ind ustria l/ o rg a niza tio na l p syc ho lo g y, c o g nitive
p syc ho lo g y, d e ve lo p me nta l p syc ho lo g y, a nd sc ho o l p syc ho lo g y (Ka la t, 2013). Ea c h sub -
d isc ip line c o ntrib ute s to the o ve ra ll fie ld o f p syc ho lo g y b y using a sp e c ific le ns to
und e rsta nd huma n b e ha vio r a nd c re a te a fulle r huma n e xp e rie nc e . To fully und e rsta nd
huma n b e ha vio r, a re se a rc he r must a sk q ue stio ns a b o ut life itse lf, c ulture , a nd b e lie f
syste ms tha t re sult in va rio us b e ha vio rs (Milto n, 2010). Tra d itio na lly, ma ny o f the se
q ue stio ns a re stud ie d b y sc ho la rs fro m o the r d isc ip line s, suc h a s the o lo g y, p hilo so p hy, o r
b io lo g y. Ea c h o f the se fie ld s ha s a sp e c ific d e finitio n tha t o utline s the p re mise o f the fie ld
a nd wha t it will stud y. Psyc ho lo g y d ra ws up o n a ll the se fie ld s—a nd mo re —to c o nstruc t its
the o rie s.

De finitio n o f Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y

The sub fie ld o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y fo c use s o n he lp ing p e o p le a nd o rg a niza tio ns
c re a te we ll-b e ing a nd me a ning in the ir live s in o rd e r to und e rsta nd a nd e nha nc e the ir
huma n e xp e rie nc e s. A re la tive ly ne w b ra nc h within the fie ld o f p syc ho lo g y, p o sitive
p syc ho lo g y is ro ug hly a b o ut a d e c a d e o ld (Ad a ms, 2012). As a d e fina b le fie ld within
p syc ho lo g y, it ha s ro o ts b a c k to Ma rtin Se lig ma n’ s 1999 p re sid e ntia l te rm in the Ame ric a n
Psyc ho lo g ic a l Asso c ia tio n (Wo ng , 2011). Se lig ma n a sse rte d tha t p syc ho lo g y sinc e Wo rld
Wa r II ha d fo c use d o n the ne g a tive a sp e c ts o f the huma n e xp e rie nc e a nd wa s wo rking
within a d ise a se -to -re me d y fra me wo rk (Kristjá nsso n, 2010), thus stra ying fro m the p rima ry
p urp o se o f p syc ho lo g y, whic h is he lp ing p e o p le c re a te fulfilling a nd p ro d uc tive live s
(Se lig ma n & C siksze ntmiha lyi, 2000).

This ne w fie ld o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y ha s se e n re ma rka b le g ro wth sinc e its inc e p tio n
(Sc hui & Kra mp e n, 2010). Its c o nc e p ts a re no w b e ing a p p lie d in ma ny a re a s (Ve lla -
Bro d ric k, 2011) inc lud ing the wo rkp la c e (Fro ma n, 2010), c o unse ling a nd p syc ho the ra p y
(Wo o d & Ta rrie r, 2010), a nd the fie ld o f e d uc a tio n (Ho y & Ta rte r, 2011), a nd in c o rp o ra te

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tra ining . De sp ite b e ing a re la tive ly ne w a re a , p o sitive p syc ho lo g y’ s c o nc e p tua l
fra me wo rk is “ d e e p ly g ro und e d in the we a lth o f e xisting the o rie s a nd e mp iric a l
find ing s” (Ave y, Lutha ns, & Yo usse f, 2010, p . 432).

Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y Fra m e wo rk

With a p a p e r p ub lishe d in the Ja nua ry 2009 issue o f the Ame ric a n Psyc ho lo g ist
(C siksze ntmiha lyi, 2009) Ma rtin Se lig ma n a nd Miha ly C siksze ntmiha lyi c re a te d p o sitive
p syc ho lo g y a s a d e fina b le fie ld . Se lig ma n fe lt tha t d uring the la tte r ha lf o f the 20th
c e ntury, p syc ho lo g y ha d b e c o me ske we d to wa rd a d d re ssing d iso rd e rs (Ad a ms, 2012).
In p e rp e tua ting a le ns fo c use d o n the ne g a tive , the fie ld o f p syc ho lo g y ne g le c te d o the r
und e rlying p syc ho lo g ic a l a xio ms a b o ut life , suc h a s e na b ling p e o p le to le a d p ro d uc tive
a nd fulfilling live s tha t wo uld inc o rp o ra te a nd utilize the ir stre ng ths (Lo p e z & Snyd e r, 2011).
Psyc ho lo g y is a to o l muc h like the o lo g y o r p hilo so p hy tha t e na b le s ind ivid ua ls,
c o mmunitie s, a nd o rg a niza tio ns to c re a te b e ha vio rs a llo wing o p tima l func tio ning
le a d ing to ha p p y a nd me a ning ful live s.

In his se mina l wo rk, Authe ntic Ha p p ine ss, Se lig ma n ta lks a b o ut thre e ro ute s to
ha p p ine ss, using ha p p ine ss inte rc ha ng e a b ly with we ll-b e ing . The thre e ro ute s a re
me a ning (the me a ning ful life ), p o sitive e mo tio ns (the p le a sa nt life ), a nd e ng a g e me nt
(the e ng a g e d life ) (C o hrs, C hristie , White , & Da s, 2013). Po sitive p syc ho lo g y inc lud e s the
sc ie ntific stud y o f p o sitive e xp e rie nc e s, p o sitive c ha ra c te r stre ng ths, a nd p o sitive
institutio ns tha t fa c ilita te we ll-b e ing a nd o p tima l func tio ning (Duc kwo rth, Ste e n, &
Se lig ma n, 2005). In a me a ning ful life , ind ivid ua ls find me a ning thro ug h the a c hie ve me nt
o f virtue (Sirg y & Wu, 2009), whic h usua lly invo lve s p a rtic ip a ting in p o sitive institutio ns
(Duc kwo rth e t a l., 2005) o r e ng a g ing in me a ning ful a c tivitie s tha t a re b ig g e r tha n the se lf
(Se lig ma n e t a l., 2006). In 2011, Se lig ma n re vise d his initia l the o ry, shifting fro m thre e
d iffe re nt typ e s o f life to d e sc rib ing we ll-b e ing in te rms o f five d o ma ins: p o sitive e mo tio ns,
e ng a g e me nt, re la tio nship s, me a ning , a nd a c c o mp lishme nt (PERMA) (Ke rn, Wa te rs,
Ad le r, & White , 2014). O f the ne w d o ma ins, two ma p d ire c tly to the fra me wo rk o f the
Inno va tio n a nd Le a d e rship thro ug h Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y p ro g ra m, a nd the o the r thre e a re
sup p o rting sc he ma tha t c a n he lp in the inno va tio n p ro c e ss.

Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd O rg a niza tio na l Be ha vio r

Po sitive p syc ho lo g y with re g a rd to the wo rkp la c e ha s b e e n stud ie d und e r
nume ro us title s (Do na ld so n & Ko , 2010). In 2002, Lutha ns wa s o ne o f the first to a p p ly
p o sitive p syc ho lo g y to the wo rkp la c e b y e sta b lishing the c o nc e p t a nd the o re tic a l
fra me wo rk o f p o sitive o rg a niza tio na l b e ha vio r, whic h he d e fine d a s “ the stud y a nd
a p p lic a tio n o f p o sitive ly o rie nte d huma n re so urc e stre ng ths a nd p syc ho lo g ic a l
c a p a c itie s tha t c a n b e me a sure d , d e ve lo p e d , a nd e ffe c tive ly ma na g e d fo r
p e rfo rma nc e imp ro ve me nt in the wo rkp la c e ” (Lutha ns & C hurc h, 2002, p . 59).

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 Within this fra me wo rk, the re ha s b e e n e vid e nc e o f the e ffe c tive ne ss o f p o sitive
le a d e rship o n e mp lo ye e p e rfo rma nc e (Lutha ns & C hurc h, 2002) a nd tha t the p o sitive
p syc ho lo g ic a l sta te c re a te d b y p o sitive p syc ho lo g y c a n g ive a n o rg a niza tio n a
c o mp e titive e d g e (Lutha ns & Yo usse f, 2007). O rg a niza tio na l b e ha vio r is hig hly influe nc e d
b y the b e ha vio r o f the le a d e rs. Po sitive le a d e rship p ra c tic e d a nd p e rfe c te d b y a n
o rg a niza tio n’ s le a d e rs c re a te s p o sitive p syc ho lo g ic a l e xp e rie nc e s, o r a c ulture whe re
c re a tive b e ha vio r c a n e me rg e a nd o rg a niza tio na l inno va tio n c a n ta ke p la c e (C o he n-
Me ita r, C a rme li, & Wa ld ma n, 2009).

Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd Le a de rship

C o nve ntio na l wisd o m sup p o rts the id e a tha t le a d e rs who se le a d e rship style e nta ils
p o sitive a ttrib ute s wo uld e lic it p o sitive o utc o me s (Ave y, Avo lio , & Lutha ns, 2011). While
inte re st in b o th p o sitivity a nd le a d e rship ha s g ro wn o ve r the la st d e c a d e (Ave y e t a l.,
2011), it ha s o nly b e e n re c e ntly tha t re se a rc he rs ha ve g ive n d ire c t a tte ntio n to the
inte rp la y o f p o sitivity a nd the le a d e r-fo llo we r d yna mic (C a rme li, Be n-Ha d o r, Wa ld ma n, &
Rup p , 2009). Se ve ra l the o rie s ha ve b e e n p ut fo rwa rd , b ut the re e xists no sp e c ific
d e finitio n o f p o sitive le a d e rship (Yo usse f & Lutha ns, 2012). Attrib ute s tha t a re usua lly
a ssig ne d to p o sitive le a d e rship inc lud e a c ha risma tic na ture , p o sitive d ire c tive , a nd a
p a rtic ip a to ry style whe n e ng a g ing sub o rd ina te s (Linle y, Ha rring to n, e t a l., 2010). The se
a ttrib ute s c a n b e fo und in va rio us le a d e rship the o rie s. Exa mp le s o f the se inc lud e the
a uthe ntic le a d e rship the o ry, the tra nsfo rma tio na l le a d e rship the o ry, the c ha risma tic
le a d e rship the o ry, the a ltruistic le a d e rship the o ry (Do na ld so n & Ko , 2010), a nd the sp iritua l
le a d e rship the o ry (Yo usse f & Lutha ns, 2012).

Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd Inno va tive Be ha vio r

Ma na g e rs who infuse p o sitive p syc ho lo g y into the ir le a d e rship style c a n c re a te a
p o sitive p syc ho lo g ic a l wo rk c ulture within the e mp lo ye e b a se a nd a llo w e mp lo ye e s to
b e g in to na tura lly p ra c tic e a nte c e d e nts o f inno va tio n suc h a s c re a tivity a nd
e ng a g e me nt tha t le a d to inno va tio n itse lf. O ne wa y fo r le a d e rs to infuse the ir le a d e rship
style with p o sitive p syc ho lo g y is to c ultiva te the use o f the ir c ha ra c te r stre ng ths. Le a d e rs
c a n use p o sitive p syc ho lo g y to c re a te a nd sup p o rt a mo re p o sitive o rg a niza tio na l c ulture
tha t in turn c re a te s p o sitive p syc ho lo g ic a l sta te s within the e mp lo ye e s o f a n o rg a niza tio n.
Within this ne w p syc ho lo g ic a l p a ra d ig m, e mp lo ye e s a re no t me re ly p ro d uc ts o f c ultura l
e ve nts a nd e xp e rie nc e s; the y b e c o me inve ste d in o r ta ke p syc ho lo g ic a l o wne rship o f
the ir wo rk (Ave y, Avo lio , C ro ssle y, & Lutha ns, 2009), thus a llo wing a mo re inno va tive
mind se t to e me rg e .

Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y’s C ha ra c te r Stre ng ths

Po sitive le a d e rship c a n b e d e fine d a s the a p p lic a tio n o f c ha ra c te r stre ng ths to
le a d e rship a nd ma na g e me nt situa tio ns in o rd e r to c re a te a virtuo us o rg a niza tio n whe re
e mp lo ye e s c a n flo urish. Virtue s a re va lue s tha t ha ve b e e n id e ntifie d b y va rio us
p hilo so p hic a l syste ms. Po sitive p syc ho lo g y’ s fra me wo rk e nc o mp a sse s six virtue s, whic h

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inc lud e wisd o m a nd kno wle d g e , c o ura g e , huma nity, justic e , te mp e ra nc e , a nd
tra nsc e nd e nc e (Pe te rso n & Se lig ma n, 2004). C ha ra c te r stre ng ths a re b e ha vio ra l wa ys in
whic h the virtue s a re e xp re sse d .

C ha ra c te r a nd c ha ra c te r stre ng ths ma tte r b e c a use the y a re the p syc ho lo g ic a l

ve hic le s tha t le a d p e o p le to e ng a g e in b o th p e rso na l a nd so c ie ta l g o o d a nd a c hie ve
g o a ls in the fa c e o f va rio us c ha lle ng e s (Wrig ht & La ue r, 2013). A g ro wing b o d y o f
re se a rc h p o ints to the fa c t tha t stre ng ths a re a sso c ia te d with a numb e r o f d e sira b le
o utc o me s, b o th b e ha vio ra l a nd p syc ho lo g ic a l (Biswa s-Die ne r, Ka shd a n, & Minha s, 2011).
The lite ra ture re p o rts tha t p e o p le who use the ir stre ng ths e xp e rie nc e ha p p ine ss, the a b ility
to a c hie ve g o a ls, a hig he r-tha n-no rma l se lf-e ste e m, e ng a g e me nt a t wo rk (Biswa s-Die ne r
e t a l., 2011), a nd me a ning in life (Littma n-O va d ia & Ste g e r, 2010). Stre ng ths c a n b e
c ultiva te d a nd a re muta b le (Biswa s-Die ne r e t a l., 2011).This wo uld sup p o rt the id e a tha t
c ultiva tio n o f c ha ra c te r stre ng ths is a d e sira b le p ursuit fo r o rg a niza tio na l d e ve lo p me nt
p ro fe ssio na ls (Biswa s-Die ne r e t a l., 2011).

The a p p lic a tio n o f c ha ra c te r stre ng ths in the wo rkp la c e c o rre la te s with

e ng a g e me nt—a n a nte c e d e nt o f inno va tio n—a nd p o sitive e xp e rie nc e s (Ha rze r & Ruc h,
2013), whic h a re a sso c ia te d with the c re a tio n o f a n e nviro nme nt whe re inno va tive wo rk
b e ha vio r c a n flo urish. Po sitive e xp e rie nc e s within a wo rkp la c e c a n a rg ua b ly g e ne ra te a
p o sitive c ulture , whic h is a n a nte c e d e nt fo r inno va tive wo rk b e ha vio r.

Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd the Eng ine e ring Disc ipline

Eng ine e rs a re a m o ng the First Te st G ro up fo r Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y in the

Wo rkpla c e
Ma ny o rg a niza tio ns ha ve simila r issue s a nd q ue stio ns a b o ut g ro wing the ir b usine ss,
ma inta ining p ro fita b ility, c re a ting a nd susta ining inno va tio n, c re a ting a c ulture whe re
e mp lo ye e s a re e ng a g e d , p ro d uc tivity is hig h, a nd sa fe ty inc id e nts a re lo w (Linle y,
Ha rring to n, & G a rc e a , 2010). As re se a rc he rs b e g a n to e xp lo re the se q ue stio ns a nd issue s
using c o nc e p ts suc h a s p o sitive c ulture a nd p o sitivity, the y ma d e a c o nsc io us e ffo rt to
fo c us o n e mp iric a l d a ta to d rive the o ry a nd a p p lic a tio ns (Linle y e t a l., 2010).
O p p o rtunitie s to a d d re ss so me o f the se q ue stio ns a ro se within the Unive rsity o f Ma ryla nd ’ s
C la rk Sc ho o l o f Eng ine e ring (Linle y e t a l., 2010), whe re the Pro je c t Ma na g e me nt Pro g ra m
invo lve d b o th g ra d ua te e ng ine e rs a nd se nio r p ro je c t ma na g e rs fro m te c hno lo g y firms
(Linle y e t a l., 2010). G ue st le c ture s g ive n within the p ro g ra m o n the sub je c t o f p o sitive
p syc ho lo g y we re p re se nte d using q ua ntita tive find ing s (Linle y e t a l., 2010). As a re sult, the
g ro up e nthusia stic a lly a d o p te d the p o sitive p syc ho lo g y c o nc e p ts (Linle y e t a l., 2010).

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Ho w a Num b e r o f Silic o n Va lle y C o m pa nie s ha ve Im ple m e nte d Po sitive
Psyc ho lo g y in the ir Wo rkpla c e
Silic o n Va lle y, a p la c e kno wn fo r c utting e d g e inno va tio n, is e mb ra c ing the id e a s
o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y. Fro m so ftwa re a nd ha rd wa re c o mp a nie s to so c ia l ne two rking
c o mp a nie s, the “ Va lle y” ha s fo und the a p p lic a tio n o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y me a ns p o sitive
b usine ss c ulture s, inno va tive tho ug ht, a nd a c tio ns tha t imp a c t the b o tto m line in a
p o sitive fa shio n. Ric h Ta ylo r, Dire c to r o f G lo b a l Ta le nt De ve lo p me nt, a t Pa lo Alto
Ne two rks, ha s se e n the a p p lic a tio n o f Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y within va rio us c o mp a nie s
d uring his te nure within Silic o n Va lle y. “ Po sitive p syc ho lo g y g ive s o rg a niza tio ns a ne w
p rism fro m whic h to vie w p ro fe ssio na l d e ve lo p me nt. Tra d itio na l a p p ro a c he s fo c us o n
fixing wha t’ s wro ng , w he re a s p o sitive p syc ho lo g y fo c use s o n stre ng ths a nd c o ntrib utio ns
ra the r tha n we a kne sse s. This c re a te s the o p p o rtunity fo r e mp lo ye e s to unle a sh the
tre me nd o us ta le nts the y p o sse ss.” He sa ys, “ Whe n a c ulture is o p e n a nd yo u c a n g ive
yo ur b e st, p e o p le te nd to b e c re a tive a nd inno va tive .”

Je ssic a Amo rte g ui, Se nio r Dire c to r o f Le a rning a nd De ve lo p me nt a t Lo g ite c h, ha s

a lso se e n the imp a c t o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y, in p a rtic ula r the use o f C ha ra c te r Stre ng ths
first ha nd , “ "Lo g ite c h ha s use d the VIA c ha ra c te r a sse ssme nt to he lp ma na g e rs' fo c us no t
just o n c o mp e te nc e , o r skill-b uild ing , with the ir e mp lo ye e s b ut a lso o n c ha ra c te r
d e ve lo p me nt. The re sult is tha t e mp lo ye e s fe e l mo re se e n a nd visib le , a nd tha t b e yo nd
the wo rk the y d o , the y re a lize who the y a re a lso ma tte rs" sa ys Amo rte g ui.

Fa c e b o o k a nd Linke d In ha ve mo re tha n so c ia l ne two rking in c o mmo n. The y a lso

e mb ra c e p o sitive p syc ho lo g y in the wo rkp la c e , a nd tha t ha s stre ng the ne d b o th the ir
c o rp o ra te c ulture s a nd e mp lo ye e c o ntrib utio ns. At Fa c e b o o k, stre ng ths a re c o re to the ir
c ulture a nd a llo w p e o p le to d o the wo rk the y lo ve a nd a re p a ssio na te a b o ut. As a re sult
o f this e nviro nme nt, p e o p le se e k o ut le a rning a b o ut the thing s the y c a re a b o ut a nd think
will ha ve the b ig g e st imp a c t, Amy Ha ye s, G lo b a l He a d o f L&D a t Fa c e b o o k sa ys,
“ Ma na g e rs a t Fa c e b o o k c re a te a n e nviro nme nt whe re re a l-time fe e d b a c k is
e nc o ura g e d . We te ll ma na g e rs tha t the ir jo b is no t to p re ve nt p e o p le fro m ma king
mista ke s, b ut to he lp the m le a rn fro m mista ke s. Enc o ura g ing p e o p le to b e c o me c urio us
a b o ut fa ilure ra the r tha n hid e it he lp s c re a te a p o sitive c ulture a llo wing c re a tivity a nd
inno va tio n to surfa c e a nd b e nurture d .” Fa c e b o o k, a d a ta -d rive n c o mp a ny, ha s
e xp e rie nc e d a c o rre la tio n b e twe e n a p o sitive wo rk c ulture a nd p e rfo rma nc e ,
e ng a g e me nt, a nd e mp lo ye e te nure .

Linke d In a lso stre sse s ind ivid ua l tra nsfo rma tio n a s a p a th to wa rd we ll-b e ing in the
wo rkp la c e . “ Tra nsfo rma tio n is a c o re p a rt o f o ur c ulture a nd o ne wa y we e na b le it is to
up lift the stre ng ths o f ind ivid ua ls ra the r tha n fo c using o n the we a kne sse s. We d o n't re ly
o n tra d itio na l HR fra me wo rks suc h a s e mp lo ye e c o mp e te nc y mo d e ls,” sa ys Ra jo n
Tumb o ko n, Sr. Le a rning & De ve lo p me nt Pa rtne r, Eng ine e ring a t Linke d In. “ O ur le a d e rship
a lso e nc o ura g e s c o mp a ssio na te ma na g e me nt, whic h e na b le s us to ma ke tho ug htful
d e c isio ns b a se d o n the mo tiva tio ns, e mo tio ns, stre ng ths, a nd c ha lle ng e s o f o the rs, whic h
is o ne re a so n we ’ re in the to p 8 p e rc e nt o n the Siro ta Te c h Be nc hma rk in te rms o f

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e mp lo ye e e ng a g e me nt. This re la te s to a p o sitive a p p ro a c h a nd fo ste ring p e o p le ’ s
ha p p ine ss a nd stre ng ths.”

As a n o rg a niza tio n, VMWa re sp e c ia lize s in c re a ting wa ys to e nha nc e the wo rld ’ s

a b ility to c o nne c t, b ut the y d o n’ t sto p the re . Tha t sa me p a ssio n fo r c o nne c tivity is a n
e sse ntia l c o mp o ne nt o f the ir c o rp o ra te c ulture . “ We imb ue p o sitive p syc ho lo g y into o ur
le a d e rship tra ining a t VMwa re a nd we ha ve se e n the info rma tio n a nd c o nc e p ts b re a the
ne w life into p e o p le ,” sa ys Vic to ria Se villa , Se nio r Ma na g e r o f Pe o p le De ve lo p me nt.
“ Fro m find ing the ir p o we r zo ne with the VIA (Va lue s in Ac tio n Inve nto ry o f Stre ng ths) to
p ra c tic ing a c tive c o nstruc tive re sp o nd ing with te a m ma te s, o ur e mp lo ye e s ha ve
e xp re sse d a re ne we d b e lie f in the wo rk tha t the y d o a nd a se nse o f e mp o we rme nt tha t
inc re a se s a uthe ntic ity, p ro d uc tivity, c o nne c tio n a nd o ve r a ll we ll-b e ing .”

Expe rie nc e s a t C o m pa nie s b e yo nd Silic o n Va lle y

Eng ine e rs a nd Silic o n Va lle y ma y ha ve b e e n e a rlie r a d o p te e s o f p o sitive
p syc ho lo g y in the wo rkp la c e , b ut ma ny o the r c o mp a nie s b e yo nd the re g io n ha ve
inc o rp o ra te d its use into the ir o rg a niza tio na l fib e r. G ina Va le nti, Vic e Pre sid e nt, Bra nd
Ho sp ita lity, Hilto n Wo rld wid e , ha s fo und tha t p o sitive p syc ho lo g y, in p a rtic ula r the use o f
p o sitive e mo tio ns, ma ke s a sig nific a nt imp a c t o n b o th Ha mp to n’ s c ulture a nd the wa y
the ir te a m me mb e rs d e live r to p no tc h se rvic e . This is no sma ll ta sk sinc e the Ha mp to n
o rg a niza tio n ha s 80,000 te a m me mb e rs, a c ro ss 2150+ ho te ls, in 20 c o untrie s.
“ Ha mp to na lity is no t just a ma d e up wo rd … it is the und e rp inning o f o ur b ra nd ’ s c usto me r
e xp e rie nc e . Ha mp to na lity re fle c ts o ur c ulture mo ve me nt, a c ulture g ro und e d in stre ng ths
– insp iring te a m me mb e rs to le a d with the ir a uthe ntic p e rso na lity,” sa ys Va le nti.
Ha mp to n’ s g uid ing va lue s o f Frie nd ly, A uthe ntic , C a ring a nd Tho ug htful o r F.A.C .T. ha ve
b e c o me p a rt o f Ha mp to n’ s c ultura l DNA a nd he lp to c re a te a n e nviro nme nt whe re
p o sitive e mo tio ns insp ire a c o nsiste nt se rvic e e xp e rie nc e . “ We strive to d e live r up o n a
c usto me r e xp e rie nc e tha t p ro mise s, Ma king Yo u Ha p p y Ma ke s Us Ha p p y. In fa c t, a t
Ha mp to n, It’ s mo re tha n a p ro mise … It’ s o ur g ua ra nte e !”

The b e ne fits o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y c a n b e se e n in o the r c o mp a nie s a s we ll,

inc lud ing To yo ta Mo to r C o rp ., Ann Ta ylo r Sto re s, C a stro l, a nd Sta nd a rd C ha rte re d Ba nk
(C o p la n, 2009). In sho rt, ma ny o rg a niza tio ns, inc lud ing the U.S. Arm y (Mills, Fle c k, &
Ko ziko wski, 2013) a nd the U.S. Air Fo rc e (Mic he l & Ne uma n, 2010) ha ve sho wn a n
inc re a se d inte re st in inc o rp o ra ting the p o te ntia l b e ne fits o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g ic a l
p rinc ip le s. The q ue stio n b e hind this ne wfo und inte re st in p o sitivity is whe the r o rg a niza tio ns
will b e a b le to c re a te wo rk e nviro nme nts tha t no t o nly me e t the ir missio n a nd e c o no mic
g o a ls, b ut a lso sup p o rt inna te huma n a sp ira tio ns, suc h a s ha p p ine ss a nd we ll-b e ing .
Po sitive p syc ho lo g y a c c o mp lishe s this b y c re a ting a n a ffirming a nd p ro a c tive
e nviro nme nt whe re e c o no mic re a litie s a nd huma n g o a ls c a n b e a c hie ve d in ta nd e m
(Fro ma n, 2010).

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 The Thre e - Da y Exe c utive Educ a tio n Expe rie nc e
The thre e -d a y Le a d e rship a nd Inno va tio n thro ug h Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y e xe c utive
e d uc a tio n p ro g ra m b ring s to g e the r p rinc ip le s o f the inno va tio n p ro c e ss, le a d e rship , a nd
p o sitive p syc ho lo g y to he lp c re a te wo rk c ulture s whe re inno va tio n c a n flo urish. Thro ug h
p re se nta tio ns, c a se stud y d isc ussio ns, a nd b re a k-o ut a c tivitie s, p a rtic ip a nts will le a rn ho w
to b e g in a p p lying p o sitive p syc ho lo g y a s a le a d e rship to o l a nd e nc o ura g e a c ulture o f
inno va tio n. The p ro g ra m is d e sig ne d to b e hig hly inte ra c tive a nd a ha nd s-o n e xp e rie nc e .
As suc h, the p ro g ra m d e ve lo p me nt te a m ha s d e c id e d to limit e a c h c o ho rt to a c la ss size
o f o nly 25-30 p a rtic ip a nts.

The und e rlying fra me wo rk o f the p ro g ra m is b uilt o n a stre ng ths-b a se d le a d e rship

mo d e l. Diffe re nt fro m o the r stre ng th-b a se d le a d e rship mo d e ls, the p o sitive p syc ho lo g y
fra me wo rk o f stre ng ths a re d e rive d fro m six unive rsa l huma n va lue s ra the r tha n
b e ha vio ra l c o nstruc ts d e ve lo p e d b y ind ivid ua ls o r o rg a niza tio ns. The se huma n va lue s
ha ve fo und e xp re ssio n within a lmo st e ve ry c ulture a ro und the wo rld (Da hlsg a a rd ,
Pe te rso n, & Se lig ma n, 2005). Va lue s a re the b uild ing b lo c ks o f b e ha vio rs a nd he lp
d e te rmine o ne ’ s c ha ra c te r. As suc h, the six unive rsa lly re se a rc he d va lue s tra nsla te into
24 b e ha vio rs, o r c ha ra c te r stre ng ths. Le a d e rs a re ta ug ht ho w to le a d fro m the se
c ha ra c te r stre ng ths to wa rd fo ur c ultura l a nte c e d e nts tha t fo ste r inno va tio n. The re sult is
to c re a te a huma n-to -huma n e xp e rie nc e o f le a d e rship a nd a c ulture o f we ll-b e ing
whe re inno va tio n ha p p e ns na tura lly.

To a c hie ve this, the p ro g ra m is d ivid e d into thre e a re a s o f stud y: 1) g a ining a n

und e rsta nd ing o f the und e rlying c o nc e p ts o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y a nd inno va tio n; 2)
a p p lying p o sitive p syc ho lo g y c o nc e p ts to inno va tio n; a nd 3) c re a ting a le a d e rship style
to fo ste r inno va tive wo rk b e ha vio r. Fina lly, a te a m p ro je c t is wo ve n thro ug ho ut the
p ro g ra m whic h g ive s p a rtic ip a nts the o p p o rtunity to wo rk to g e the r a nd p ra c tic e
a p p lying the c o nc e p ts le a rne d to re a l life o rg a niza tio na l situa tio ns.

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 Fig ure 1- Pro g ra m Flo w

The Are a s o f Study within the Pro g ra m

The p ro g ra m is b ro ke n into thre e a re a s o f stud y:

Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y a nd Inno va tio n Mo d ule – During the first se g me nt o f the p ro g ra m

p a rtic ip a nts will g a in a n und e rsta nd ing o f the fie ld o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y, c ha ra c te r
stre ng ths, a nd the inno va tio n p ro c e ss.

Ap p ling Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y C o nc e p ts to Inno va tio n – In the se c o nd se g me nt o f the

p ro g ra m, ind ustry e xp e rts sha re the ir e xp e rie nc e s o f a p p lying p o sitive p syc ho lo g y to the
fo ur a nte c e d e nts o f inno va tio n (p o sitive c ulture , c re a tivity, p o sitive e mo tio ns, a nd
e ng a g e me nt).

C re a ting a Le a d e rship Style – The fina l se g me nt o f the p ro g ra m fo c use s o n le a d e rship .

Pa rtic ip a nts will b e e xp o se d to wa ys in whic h p o sitive p syc ho lo g y a nd a p p re c ia tive
inq uiry c a n b e a p p lie d within a le a d e rship style . Ind ustry e xp e rts will a lso sha re id e a s fo r
c re a ting stra te g ie s to o ve rc o ming o rg a niza tio na l o b sta c le s in c re a ting a p o sitive
inno va tive c ulture .

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The Pro g ra m Pro je c t
Stud e nts will wo rk in te a ms to c re a te a nd d e live r a p ro je c t. The g o a l o f the p ro je c t
is to inc o rp o ra te the kno wle d g e b e ing a c q uire d within the p ro g ra m into a to o l kit tha t
c a n b e utilize d up o n re turn to the ir re sp e c tive o rg a niza tio ns. Be fo re c o ming to the
p ro g ra m, e a c h p a rtic ip a nt will ha ve a c a ll with Dr. G a tto , Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y Fe llo w. The
c a ll se rve s thre e func tio ns: to e xte nd a p e rso na l we lc o me to the p ro g ra m, a n o p p o rtunity
to re vie w wha t the p a rtic ip a nt ho p e s to a c hie ve b y a tte nd ing the p ro g ra m in a lig nme nt
with the p ro g ra m o utc o me s, a nd fina lly to e va lua te the p a rtic ip a nt’ s b a c kg ro und a nd
inte re sts so the y c a n b e a ssig ne d to a g ro up o f p e e rs fo r the p ro je c t. O nc e this is
c o mp le te d the stud e nt is fo rma lly a d mitte d a nd a ssig ne d to a g ro up o f p e e rs to wo rk
with d uring the p ro g ra m. Ea c h g ro up will a lso b e a ssig ne d a n ind ustry e xp e rt (so me o f
who m ha ve ta ke n the p ro g ra m a lre a d y) to he lp g uid e the m thro ug h the p ro je c t p ro c e ss
a nd g ive the m insig hts fro m a n ind ustry p ro sp e c tive . The te a m, a c c o mp a nie d b y the ir
ind ustry a d viso r, the n p re se nts the ir p ro je c t to the c la ss a nd instruc to rs fo r c o mmunity
fe e d b a c k.

O ng o ing We b ina rs
O ur g o a l is to c re a te a c o mmunity o f p e o p le who a re inte re ste d in ma king a
p o sitive shift within the wo rld o f wo rk a nd fo ste r mo re inno va tio n within o rg a niza tio ns. O ne
wa y to a c hie ve this is to ha ve p e rio d ic we b ina rs, whe re a lumni c a n he a r ho w o the rs fro m
va rio us c o ho rts a re imp le me nting the c o nc e p ts a nd to o ls le a rne d in the p ro g ra m.
Ano the r wa y is to e ng a g e g ue st sp e a ke rs, suc h a s o ur b o a rd me mb e rs, to sha re id e a s fo r
using p o sitive p syc ho lo g y within o rg a niza tio ns o r ho w the y a re c re a ting the a nte c e d e nts
o f inno va tio n within the ir o rg a niza tio ns. Da te s a nd time s o f the we b ina r a re p ub lishe d in
o ur a lumni ne wsle tte r, o n the we b site , a nd a ll a lumni re c e ive a n e ma il le tting the m kno w
whe n the ne xt we b ina r will ta ke p la c e .

Ne two rking O pp o rtunitie s

Be c a use o ur g o a l is to e nc o ura g e a c o mmunity o f like -mind e d p ro fe ssio na ls
who se fo c us is to c re a te mo re p o sitive a nd inno va tive wo rkp la c e s, ne two rking is hig hly
e nc o ura g e d thro ug ho ut the p ro g ra m. The re fo re , we ha ve se t a sid e o ne nig ht within the
p ro g ra m whe re p a rtic ip a nts g a the r a t UC Be rke le y’ s histo ric Fa c ulty C lub
(http :/ / www .b e rke le yfa c ultyc lub .c o m/ ) to re la x a nd g e t to kno w e a c h o the r, o ur b o a rd
me mb e rs, a nd instruc to rs. Pa rtic ip a nts fo rm p ro fe ssio na l b o nd s tha t will he lp the m with
this wo rk a s the y g o b a c k to the ir re sp e c tive o rg a niza tio ns.

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Fe e d b a c k fro m O ur Pa rtic ip a nts
The fo llo wing is so me o f the fe e d b a c k we ha ve re c e ive d fro m o ur p a rtic ip a nts:

“ This wa s a mo ng the b e st e d uc a tio na l p ro g ra ms I've a tte nd e d in re c e nt me mo ry. The juxta p o sitio n o f c utting -
e d g e re se a rc h a nd re a l-wo rld imp le me nta tio ns wa s tho ug ht-p ro vo king , a nd I fe lt p rivile g e d to b e le a rning
fro m to p ta le nt in b o th a c a d e mia a nd the c o rp o ra te wo rld . I a lso a p p re c ia te d the o p p o rtunity to wo rk
thro ug h c o nc e p ts a nd a p p lic a tio ns in sma ll g ro up s, with p e o p le fro m a d iffe re nt c o untrie s a nd a va rie ty o f
o rg a niza tio ns.”

~ Julie tte Hirt

Asso c ia te G e ne ra l C o unse l
Sie rra C lub
USA

“ I a m a p o sitive p syc ho lo g ist p ra c titio ne r who ha s b e e n re se a rc hing , stud ying a nd te a c hing p o sitive
p syc ho lo g y fo r the p a st 6 ye a rs. The UC Be rke le y e xe c utive p ro g ra m, Inno va tio n a nd Le a d e rship thro ug h
Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y, wa s a n unfo rg e tta b le e xp e rie nc e . The c o mb ina tio n o f e xc e lle nt a c a d e mic s a nd wo rld
c la ss ind ustry e xp e rts p ro vide d me the o p p o rtunity to g a in ne w insig ht into le a d e rship a nd the inno va tio n
p ro c e ss.”

~ And ré s C a b e za s C o rc io ne , Ph.D.
C EO -Fo und e r La tina me ric a n C e nte r o f Ap p lie d Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y
C hile

“ The Inno va tio n a nd Le a d e rship thro ug h Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y Pro g ra m a t UC Be rke le y C o lle g e o f Eng ine e ring
wa s p ro b a b ly the b e st e d uc a tio na l e xp e rie nc e I ha ve ha d . The p e rfe c t b le nd b e twe e n the o ry a nd p ra c tic e ,
c o mb ine d with the va rio us ind ustry e xp e rts a nd UC Be rke le y's d isting uishe d e d uc a to rs, suc h a s Dr. Ke ith G a tto
a nd Dr. Le e Fle ming , re a lly ma d e this p ro g ra m e xtre me ly ha nd s-o n. The p ro g ra m whic h c o ve rs a la rg e
a mo unt o f to p ic s suc h a s p o sitive e mo tio ns in the wo rkp la c e , c ha ra c te r stre ng ths to c re a te a le a d e rship style
o r a p p re c ia tive inq uiry, is a n e xtre me ly use ful to o lkit fo r a ny p ro fe ssio na l who wa nts to c re a te a hig h-
p e rfo rming o rg a niza tio n, fo ste r c re a tivity, inno va tio n a nd insp ire le a d e rs.”

~ Pa ul Ra c ine
Fo und e r, Life La b
Fra nc e

The Be rke le y Ac a de m ic Te a m
The a c a d e mic te a m fro m UC Be rke le y b ring s a c o mb ina tio n o f re se a rc h
kno wle d g e a nd p ro fe ssio na l e xp e rie nc e to the p ro g ra m. The te a m c o nsists o f:

Le e Fle ming , PhD (Inno va tio n) -Dr. Fle ming e a rne d his b a c he lo r’ s d e g re e in e le c tric a l
e ng ine e ring a t UC Da vis a nd we nt o n to e a rn a ma ste r’ s d e g re e in e ng ine e ring
ma na g e me nt fro m Sta nfo rd Unive rsity in the Ho no rs C o o p e ra tive Pro g ra m. He the n
re c e ive d his PhD in o rg a niza tio na l b e ha vio r in the De p a rtme nt o f Ind ustria l Eng ine e ring
a t Sta nfo rd . He a lso c o mp le te d a ma ste r’ s d e g re e in sta tistic s d uring his d o c to ra l ye a rs.
Be twe e n 1998 a nd 2011, he wa s the Alb e rt J. We a the rhe a d III Pro fe sso r o f Busine ss
Ad ministra tio n a t the Ha rva rd Busine ss Sc ho o l. His re se a rc h inve stig a te s ho w ma na g e rs

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c a n inc re a se the ir o rg a niza tio n’ s like liho o d o f inve nting a b re a kthro ug h thro ug h va rio us
typ e s o f c o lla b o ra tio n, the integration of scientific and empirical search strategies, and
the re c o mb ina tio n o f d ive rse te c hno lo g ie s. He is c urre ntly using Big Da ta te c hniq ue s to
study innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge flow, a nd sc ie nc e p o lic y.

Ke ith P. G a tto , PhD (Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y, Le a d e rship ) - Dr. G a tto ha s he ld a c a d e mic
ma na g e me nt a nd le a d e rship p o sitio ns a t UC Be rke le y fo r the p a st d e c a d e a nd c urre ntly
se rve s a s the Po sitive Psyc ho lo g y Fe llo w a t the Fung Institute o f Eng ine e ring Le a d e rship in
the C o lle g e o f Eng ine e ring . He is the re c ip ie nt o f a PhD in o rg a niza tio na l le a d e rship fro m
the C hic a g o Sc ho o l o f Pro fe ssio na l Psyc ho lo g y, a Ma ste r o f Ed uc a tio n in p syc ho lo g y fro m
C a mb rid g e C o lle g e , a nd a Ba c he lo r o f Sc ie nc e in b usine ss a d ministra tio n a nd ma rke ting
fro m Villa no va Unive rsity. Dr. G a tto ha s ta ug ht c o urse s a nd p re se nte d e xe c utive
e d uc a tio n le c ture s o n le a d e rship a nd te a m b uild ing , the p syc ho lo g y o f le a d e rship ,
te c hno lo g y le a d e rship , b usine ss e thic s, huma n re la tio ns in the wo rkp la c e , a nd the
p syc ho lo g y o f suc c e ss. In a d d itio n, he ha s c o nd uc te d re se a rc h fo c use d o n the imp a c t
o f p o sitive p syc ho lo g y o n inno va tive wo rk b e ha vio r. He is the c urric ulum a rc hite c t o f this
p ro g ra m, a nd the p ro g ra m is b a se d o n his g ra d ua te re se a rc h. Be fo re p ursuing a c a re e r
in hig he r e d uc a tio n ma na g e me nt a nd te a c hing , he wa s e mp lo ye d in a c c o unt
ma na g e me nt, c o rp o ra te tra ining a nd ma rke ting c o mmunic a tio ns ro le s in the fina nc ia l
se rvic e s ind ustry fo r suc h c o mp a nie s a s Va ng ua rd , C IG NA, a nd MFS Inve stme nt
Ma na g e me nt. He a lso se rve d o n the b o a rd s o f the G re a te r Bo sto n Busine ss C o unc il a nd
the C e rtifie d Fina nc ia l Pla nning Bo a rd o f Sta nd a rd s.

O ur Industry Instruc to rs
The p ro g ra m is d e sig ne d to b e a p a rtne rship b e twe e n the Unive rsity a nd ind ustry.
As suc h o ur ind ustry instruc to rs p la y a n imp o rta nt ro le in the d e live ry o f the p ro g ra m.
Ea c h instruc to r is ve tte d to e nsure b o th a we a lth o f a p p ro p ria te b a c kg ro und
kno wle d g e a nd e xp e rie nc e s a s we ll a s e xc e lle nt p re se nta tio n a nd d e live ry skills. Pa st
instruc to rs ha ve c o me fro m c o mp a nie s suc h a s Linke d In, IDEO , Ha mp to n Ho te ls
Wo rld wid e , Fa c e b o o k, Sa msung , a nd Lo g ite c h. The p ro g ra m is a lwa ys lo o king fo r ne w
c o mp a nie s a nd instruc to rs to b e c o me p a rt o f o ur c o mmunity. Ind ustry instruc to rs who
ha ve ta ug ht in the p ro g ra m thre e o r mo re time s a re a wa rd e d the ho no ra ry title o f
De a n’ s Te a c hing Fe llo w in re c o g nitio n o f the we a lth o f kno wle d g e a nd c o mmitme nt to
the p ro g ra m.

The Industry A dviso ry Bo a rd

Uniq ue to this e xe c utive e d uc a tio n p ro g ra m is the ind ustry a d viso ry b o a rd whic h
is c o mp rise d o f d ive rse p ro fe ssio na ls who a re inte re ste d in p ro mo ting the va lue o f a
p o sitive c ulture a nd its imp a c t o n inno va tio n, the b o a rd p ro vid e s inp ut, fro m a n ind ustry
p e rsp e c tive , o n the p ro g ra m’ s d e ve lo p me nt a nd he lp s d isse mina te info rma tio n a b o ut
the p ro g ra m to the p ub lic . The 2016-2017 Ind ustry Ad viso ry Bo a rd c o nsists o f
re p re se nta tive s fro m Asc e nsio n He a lth, Auto d e sk, C isc o , Fa c e b o o k, IDEO , Linke d In,

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PlusPlus, a nd Sa le sfo rc e (Bo a rd me mb e r na me s a nd b io s c a n b e fo und in Ap p e nd ix A).
The b o a rd p ro vid e s fe e d b a c k a nd se rvic e to the p ro g ra m in thre e ma in a re a s: p ro g ra m
d e ve lo p me nt, stud e nt e xp e rie nc e , a nd ma rke ting a nd p ro mo tio n.

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 Re fe re nc e s

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547.

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 Appe ndixe s

App e ndix A - Bio s o f the Pro g ra m ’s 2016 - 2017 Industry A dviso ry Bo a rd

Ma rko G a rg e nta , Ind ustry Ad viso ry Bo a rd C ha ir

Fo unde r a nd C EO o f PlusPlus a nd Inve sto r a t Sa nd Hill Ang e ls
Ma rko G a rg e nta is fo und e r a nd C EO o f PlusPlus, a kno wle d g e sha ring so ftwa re
c o mp a ny. Prio r to PlusPlus, Ma rko wa s the Dire c to r o f Twitte r Unive rsity whe re he fo c use d
o n e na b ling Twitte r e ng ine e rs a nd e ng ine e ring ma na g e rs to b e the b e st in the wo rld a t
wha t the y d o . At Twitte r, he c re a te d a c ulture o f le a rning whe re e ng ine e rs le a rn fro m o ne
a no the r. Prio r to Twitte r, Ma rko c o -fo und e d a nd le d Ma ra ka na , a n o p e n so urc e so ftwa re
tra ining c o mp a ny tha t fo c use d o n tra ining e ng ine e rs a t c o mp a nie s suc h a s Inte l,
Q ua lc o mm, C isc o , Mo to ro la , De p a rtme nt o f De fe nse a nd o the rs. Ma ra ka na wa s
a c q uire d b y Twitte r in 2013. Ma rko stud ie d Ma the ma tic s a nd So ftwa re Eng ine e ring a t
Unive rsity o f Wa te rlo o , C a na d a . He ’ s the a utho r o f Le a rning And ro id p ub lishe d b y O ’ Re illy
Me d ia .

Je nny Bla c kb urn

Dire c to r, Te c hno lo g y Pe o p le & Le a d e rship , Sa le sfo rc e
Je nny is c urre ntly a p ro g ra m d ire c to r o n the e mb e d d e d le a rning a nd
d e ve lo p me nt te a m in Sa le sfo rc e ’ s Te c hno lo g y & Pro d uc ts o rg a niza tio n. While sp e nd ing
mo st o f he r c a re e r in te c h d rive n e nviro nme nts, she is a multi-ind ustry, e xp e rie nc e d
p ro fe ssio na l who ha s ha d suc c e ss le a d ing c o nte nt, d e live ry a nd e va lua tio n te a ms a nd
p ro je c ts to a c hie ve a g g re ssive p e rfo rma nc e g o a ls in hig h g ro wth, d ive rse e nviro nme nts.
She is d rive n b y inno va tio n a nd ha s sp e a rhe a d e d nume ro us initia tive s in trib a l kno wle d g e
sha ring a nd re wa rd syste ms, ma king me a sura b le imp a c t in b uild ing to wa rd s a le a rning
o rg a niza tio n mind se t. She ha s le d e nte rp rise le a rning o p e ra tio ns ma na g e me nt, p ro d uc t
d e ve lo p me nt, e nte rp rise le a rning syste m imp le me nta tio n, a nd g e ne ra l p ro g ra m
ma na g e me nt in g lo b a lly d istrib ute d c o mp a nie s. Je nny’ s sp e c ia ltie s a re e nte rp rise
le a rning stra te g y, p ro g ra m ma na g e me nt, te a m le a d e rship , p ro c e ss d e ve lo p me nt,
c ha ng e ma na g e me nt, a nd le a rning te c hno lo g y imp le me nta tio n (b usine ss p ro c e ss sid e ).

Ja m e s De sro sie r
Inte rne t o f Thing s Ta le nt C o nso rtium Le a d , Le a rning @ C isc o

Ja me s is le a d ing g lo b a l ta le nt d e ve lo p me nt initia tive with stra te g ic a nd c ha nne l

p a rtne rs fo r the multi-tie re d Le a rning @ C isc o B2B tra ining o rg a niza tio n a nd g ro wing
c o nting e nt o f g lo b a l p la ye rs: G E Dig ita l, Ro c kwe ll Auto ma tio n, Pa nd uit, MIT Slo a n Sc ho o l
o f Ma na g e me nt, Pe a rso n Wo rkfo rc e Re a d ine ss, Disne y HR, IQ Na vig a to r (HRIS Sa a S), Ne w
Yo rk Ac a d e my o f Sc ie nc e s, a nd g lo b a l tra ining c o mp a nie s Fa stLa ne a nd ANI. He ’ s a lso

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d riving o rg a niza tio na l d e sig n / d e ve lo p me nt, re se a rc h o n tra ns-d isc ip lina ry le a d e rship
d e ve lo p me nt, c o nte nt d e ve lo p me nt stra te g y, b usine ss rule s fo r c o urse wa re sha ring ,
le a rning p a thwa ys fo r c e rtific a tio n a nd b a d g ing , c urric ulum d e sig n, e -le a rning tra ining
me tho d s, we b stra te g ie s, sa le s p o sitio ning a nd c o mmunic a tio ns, a nd p ro g ra m
imp le me nta tio n. Ja me s’ e xp e rie nc e sp a ns le a d e rship d e ve lo p me nt, c o rp o ra te le a rning
a nd d e ve lo p me nt, c usto me r a nd sa le s e na b le me nt, e xe c utive e d uc a tio n, p ro fe ssio na l
d e ve lo p me nt, a nd a c c re d ite d hig he r e d uc a tio n. Ja me s is c urre ntly c o mp le ting his
d o c to ra l d isse rta tio n o n C re a tivity Ma na g e me nt a t the Euro p e a n G ra d ua te Sc ho o l,
whic h is fully a c c re d ite d b y the Euro p e a n Unio n. He ha s wo rke d with SMEs in 20
c a te g o rie s to d e ve lo p ~100 c o urse s a nd 16 c e rtific a tio n p ro g ra ms, a nd
d e sig ne d / d ire c te d e xe c utive e d uc a tio n, p ro fe ssio na l d e ve lo p me nt a nd a c a d e mic s in
22 fie ld s.

Am y Ha ye s
G lo b a l He a d o f Le a rning & De ve lo p me nt, Fa c e b o o k

Amy is a le a rning a nd d e ve lo p me nt c o nsulta nt a nd c o a c h with o ve r 18 ye a rs’

e xp e rie nc e he lp ing le a d e rs na vig a te the c ha lle ng e s the y fa c e in the ir ro le s. As the
G lo b a l L&D Le a d e r she ha s re sp o nsib ility fo r ma king Fa c e b o o k a g re a t p la c e to le a rn to
le a d a nd fo r e nsuring the c o mp a ny ha s the le a d e rship c a p a b ility ne e d e d to d a y a nd in
the future . Amy b e lie ve s tha t the wo rld ne e d s le a d e rship mo re tha n e ve r…a nd tha t
b e ing a le a d e r is mo re c ha lle ng ing no w tha n e ve r b e fo re . She ha s tre me nd o us re sp e c t
fo r tho se who ta ke o n le a d e rship ro le s a nd is p a ssio na te a b o ut b e ing a re so urc e fo r tho se
who a re ma king a d iffe re nc e in the wo rld . Prio r to jo ining Fa c e b o o k, Amy sp e nt 14 ye a rs
with PwC in va rio us HR/ L&D le a d e rship ro le s in Bo sto n, Lo nd o n a nd Ne w Yo rk. Amy ha s a
Ba c he lo r’ s d e g re e in Busine ss Ma na g e me nt fro m G e o rg e Ma so n Unive rsity, a n MS fro m
Bo sto n Unive rsity a nd ha s re c e ntly c o mp le te d Hud so n Institute o f C o a c hing ’ s
p ro g ra m. As a fo rme r, “ e a st c o a ste r” , she is a ne w re sid e nt o f Sa n Fra nc isc o a nd is
e njo ying the C a lifo rnia sun…..imme nse ly!

The Re v. De nnis H. Ho ltsc hne ide r, C .M., ED.D.

Pre sid e nt o f De Pa ul Unive rsity a nd C ha irma n o f Asc e nsio n He a lth

The Re v. De nnis H. Ho ltsc hne id e r, C .M., is p re sid e nt o f De Pa ul Unive rsity, the

na tio n’ s la rg e st C a tho lic unive rsity a nd c ha irma n o f Asc e nsio n He a lth, the na tio n’ s la rg e st
C a tho lic a nd no n-p ro fit he a lth syste m. He a lso se rve s o n the b o a rd s o f the Ame ric a n
C o unc il o n Ed uc a tio n (AC E), the C hic a g o Histo ry Muse um, a nd the ste e ring c o mmitte e
o f the Illino is Busine ss Immig ra tio n C o a litio n. Fr. Ho ltsc hne id e r b e c a me De Pa ul’ s 11th
p re sid e nt in 2004 a nd o ve rse e s a $550 millio n b ud g e t, 23,539 stud e nts, a nd 924 full-time
fa c ulty o n fo ur C hic a g o c a mp use s a s we ll a s o nline . He jo ine d the b o a rd o f Asc e nsio n
He a lth in 2009 a nd mo ve d to the p a re nt b o a rd o f Asc e nsio n He a lth in 2012, whe re he
c ha ire d the a ud it c o mmitte e fo r the $26 b illio n he a lthc a re o rg a niza tio n c o nsisting o f the

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he a lthc a re syste m a nd a n a rra y o f he a lth-re la te d b usine sse s. He is a p ro fe sso r o f
e d uc a tio n a t De Pa ul a nd a fa c ulty me mb e r in the Ha rva rd G ra d ua te Sc ho o l o f
Ed uc a tio n’ s Ma na g e me nt De ve lo p me nt Pro g ra m a nd the Ha rva rd Se mina r fo r Ne w
Pre sid e nts, whe re he te a c he s stra te g y a nd g o ve rna nc e . He a lso is a fo und e r a nd fa c ulty
me mb e r a t Bo sto n C o lle g e ’ s Institute fo r Ad ministra to rs in C a tho lic Hig he r Ed uc a tio n.

Eliza b e th Kim
Exe c utive Dire c to r o f Ta le nt, IDEO Pa lo Alto

At IDEO Pa lo Alto , the ir missio n is to huma nize te c hno lo g y. Tha t me a ns ma king sure
tha t huma n e mo tio n, b e a uty, fe a rs, a nd d re a ms info rm te c hno lo g y — tra nsfo rming it
fro m “ simp ly so me thing ne w” to a n e xp e rie nc e tha t tra nsfo rms the huma n e xp e rie nc e .
As the Exe c utive Dire c to r o f Ta le nt a t IDEO -PA, Eliza b e th’ s jo b is to find a ma zing p e o p le
who c a n d e live r o n this a ud a c io us missio n a nd to c re a te e xp e rie nc e s tha t c ha lle ng e ,
e xc ite , a nd insp ire the m to a c hie ve the ir full c re a tive p o te ntia l. To d o tha t, Eliza b e th a nd
he r te a m a nd wo rk tire le ssly to id e ntify a nd insp ire a ma zing p e o p le , b ring the m to IDEO ,
a nd find a ma zing e xp e rie nc e s tha t he lp the m le a rn, g ro w, flo urish. Prio r to c o ming to
IDEO , Eliza b e th sp e nt 15 ye a rs a t Mc Kinse y & C o mp a ny a nd p la ye d a va rie ty o f ro le s
inc lud ing Asso c ia te Princ ip a l a nd Se nio r Le a rning Exp e rt. He r p a ssio n ha s a lwa ys b e e n
to find wa ys to he lp p e o p le le a rn a nd g ro w — whe the r e xte rna l c lie nts o r inte rna l
c o nsulta nts. As a Se nio r Le a rning Exp e rt, Eliza b e th wo rke d with Mc Kinse y’ s se nio r le a d e rs
to d e ve lo p le a rning e xp e rie nc e s fo r c o nsulta nts o f a ll te nure s. So me o f he r fa vo rite
e xa mp le s inc lud e mo b ile le a rning fo r c o nsulta nts se rving unfa milia r ind ustrie s, func tio na l
le a rning fo r p ro je c t ma na g e rs, tra nsfo rma tio na l le a rning fo r e ng a g e me nt ma na g e rs, a nd
te a c hing se nio r p a rtne rs a b o ut o ur e xp a nd ing se rvic e o ffe rs. In he r p e rso na l life , Eliza b e th
is a mo m to thre e yo ung c hild re n a nd wife to a q ua ntum p hysic ist.

Da nny Rya n
Dire c to r o f Te c hnic a l Tra ining & De ve lo p me nt, Auto d e sk

Da nny is the d ire c to r o f Te c hnic a l Tra ining a nd De ve lo p me nt a t Auto d e sk whe re

he fo c use s o n b o th the ho rizo nta l d e ve lo p me nt o f e ng ine e rs a s the y a d d ne w te c hnic a l
skills a nd ve rtic a l d e ve lo p me nt whe re le a rne rs g ro w the ir te c hnic a l le a d e rship skills.
Da nny is a n e le c tro nic e ng ine e r who wo rke d in Philip s (NL), DEC a nd C yp re ss
Se mic o nd uc to r b e fo re c o ming to Auto d e sk. Fue le d b y his ho b b ie s o f imp ro v a nd
sta nd up c o me d y, he ma d e the tra nsitio n fro m e ng ine e ring a nd e ng ine e ring
ma na g e me nt to le a rning a nd d e ve lo p me nt a b o ut 10 ye a rs a g o . No thing sa tisfie s Da nny
mo re tha n se e ing p e o p le g ro w while e njo ying the p ro c e ss. At Auto d e sk Da nny le a d s a
sma ll te a m tha t ha s imp le me nte d se ve ra l ma jo r p ro g ra ms inc lud ing a 6-we e k
Eng ine e ring Bo o tc a mp a nd ha s b e e n p ilo ting a virtua l le a d e rship d e ve lo p me nt p ro g ra m
tha t b ring s sma ll te a ms to g e the r in a n o nline g a ming e nviro nme nt to d e ve lo p the ir skills
fo r b uild ing trust, c o o rd ina ting a c tio n a nd le a d ing te a ms.

21
©2016 G a tto , All Rig hts Re se rve d
Vic to ria Se villa
Se nio r Ma na g e r, G lo b a l Pe o p le De ve lo p me nt, VMWa re

Vic to ria Se villa b e lie ve s in the p o we r o f p o sitive o rg a niza tio na l c ulture s, no t o nly
fo r wha t the y c a n a c hie ve , b ut ho w the y m a ke p e o p le fe e l. He r lo ve o f le a rning a nd
d e ve lo p me nt e vo lve d fro m he r e xp e rie nc e te a c hing c o urse s in Inte rp e rso na l
C o mmunic a tio n, Inte rc ultura l C o mmunic a tio n, Pub lic Sp e a king , a nd C ritic a l Thinking in
sma ll g ro up s a t two Sa n Fra nc isc o Ba y Are a unive rsitie s: Sa n Jo se Sta te Unive rsity a nd
Sa nta C la ra Unive rsity. Vic to ria ’ s inte re st fo r p ra xis a nd inno va tio n le d he r to c o nsult fo r
hig h te c h c o mp a nie s in Silic o n Va lle y, whe re he r p a ssio n fo r the fie ld o f le a rning a nd
d e ve lo p me nt wa s furthe r fue le d . Vic to ria c urre ntly wo rks in le a d e rship d e ve lo p me nt a t
VMWa re , he a d q ua rte re d in Pa lo Alto , C A, whe re she c re a te s a nd fa c ilita te s c utting -
e d g e e xp e rie ntia l le a rning p ro g ra ms. The se c utting e d g e p ro g ra ms a re b a se d in p o sitive
p syc ho lo g y re se a rc h, ye t a re p ra c tic a l a nd fo c use d o n re a l-wo rld a p p lic a tio n. The g o a l
o f the se p ro g ra ms is to e q uip le a d e rs with the skills a nd mind se ts tha t e na b le the m to
b uild mic ro -c lima te s o f huma n flo urishing within the ir units. She ha s p ub lishe d two a rtic le s
o n he r wo rk e xp e rie nc e s: “ Why So me Mo tiva tio na l Stra te g ie s Fa il a nd Ho w to C re a te
Insp ira tio n a t Wo rk,” whic h wa s na me d o ne o f the to p te n a rtic le s in 2015 b y Fulfillme nt
Da ily, a nd “ Eve rything is Awe so me . Why Yo u C a n’ t Te ll Emp lo ye e s the y’ re d o ing a Ba d
Jo b ,” whic h wa s fe a ture d o n the fro nt p a g e o f the Wa ll Stre e t Jo urna l. Vic to ria is a lso the
re c ip ie nt o f HR.c o m’ s Le a d e rship Exc e lle nc e a wa rd fo r the Be st G lo b a l/ Inte rna tio na l
Le a d e rship Pro g ra m.

Ra jo n Tum b o ko n
He a d o f Te c h Ac a d e my & Sr. Le a rning Pa rtne r fo r Eng ine e ring , Linke d In

Ra jo n ma na g e s Te c h Ac a d e my, Linke d In’ s te c hnic a l le a rning p ro g ra m, whe re

e ng ine e rs c a n d e ve lo p the mse lve s o n the te c hno lo g ie s tha t c o nne c t the wo rld ’ s
p ro fe ssio na ls to b e mo re p ro d uc tive a nd suc c e ssful. Te c h Ac a d e my’ s fla g ship p ro g ra m,
Eng ine e ring Bo o tc a mp , tra nsfo rme d Linke d In’ s e ng ine e ring o nb o a rd ing e xp e rie nc e a nd
he lp e d ne w e ng ine e rs inc re a se the ir first-mo nth p ro d uc tivity b y 100%. Ra jo n is a lso
re sp o nsib le fo r d e live ring ta le nt d e ve lo p me nt p ro g ra ms fo r e ng ine e rs, inc lud ing
p ro g ra ms fo r c a re e r d e ve lo p me nt, ma na g e r e ffe c tive ne ss, a nd c ha ng e ma na g e me nt.
In a d d itio n to his d utie s a t Linke d In, Ra jo n fo und e d the Ba y Are a Le a rning De sig n &
Te c hno lo g y me e tup g ro up , whe re le a rning & d e ve lo p me nt p ro fe ssio na ls c a n d isc uss a nd
fo ste r inno va tive a p p ro a c he s to wo rkp la c e le a rning . Prio r to Linke d In, Ra jo n wo rke d a t
G o o g le whe re he d e ve lo p e d mo b ile le a rning a p p s fo r G o o g le rs. Ra jo n a lso he ld ke y
le a rning & d e ve lo p me nt ro le s a t We b Le a rning a nd Jo hnso n & Jo hnso n. Ra jo n stud ie d
c o mp ute r sc ie nc e a t Ste ve ns Institute o f Te c hno lo g y a nd is a husb a nd a nd fa the r to two
yo ung d a ug hte rs.

22
©2016 G a tto , All Rig hts Re se rve d
App e ndix B – De finitio ns

C re a tivity: “ the p ro d uc tio n o f no ve l a nd use ful id e a s” (Ama b ile , 1996, p . 1)

Eng a g e me nt: “ a p o sitive , fulfilling wo rk-re la te d sta te o f mind c ha ra c te rize d b y vig o r,

d e d ic a tio n a nd a b so rp tio n” (Sc ha ufe li, Ba kke r, & Sa la no va , 2006)

Po sitive Wo rk C ulture : Ac tio ns b y a n e mp lo ye e tha t fo ste r o r c re a te a me a ning ful

e xp e rie nc e within the wo rkp la c e (G a tto , 2015).

Po sitive Emo tio ns: Po sitive e mo tio ns c a n b e c o nsid e re d fe rtiliza tio n fo r the se e d s o f
inno va tio n. The y c re a te e mo tio na l g ro und fo r the se e d s o f inno va tio n to flo urish. Po sitive
e mo tio ns mo tiva te e mp lo ye e s to ta ke p a rt in a c tivitie s o f the o rg a niza tio n (Fre d ric kso n
& C o hn, 2008), c re a te e nviro nme nts tha t ha ve p e rso na l me a ning o r a re va lue d b y
ind ivid ua ls (C a rlso n, Ka c ma r, G rzywa c z, Te p p e r, & Whitte n, 2013), a nd b uild p e rso na l
re so urc e s suc h a s c o g nitio n (Fre d ric kso n & C o hn, 2008).

23
©2016 G a tto , All Rig hts Re se rve d
Points to Ponder!!!
What makes working with one person a successful
endeavor?

AND

Working with another person an unsuccessful

endeavor?
 Influence!

the ability to have an effect on others

Although a leader may be in a high-ranking
position and have abundant knowledge and
success, what make someone a leader is his
or her ability to influence others.
 Managers vs. Leaders
Major Differences (Vineet Nayer, HBR, 2013)
https://hbr.org/2013/08/tests-of-a-leadership-transiti
• Counting value vs Creating value

• Circles of power vs Circles of influence

• Managing work vs Leading people
•
• Dealing with complexity vs Dealing with uncertainty
• Doing things right vs doing right things
• Maintaining vs Developing
"It's not the position that makes the leader; it's the
leader that makes the position. A leader influences
people. Leadership is influence. It’s that simple.

Whether you’re influencing a little league baseball

team, or a team of executives, your effectiveness
has nothing to do with what your title or position
is. Your effectiveness as a leader is defined by how
well you influence others and how well you serve
others. You need to bring out the best in yourself
so you can bring out the best in others.”
~ John C. Maxwell
Innovation
and
Invention

https://brandminds.com/what-are-the-4-types-of-innovation/
Major types
of innovation
 The innovation
process gives
organizations the
ability to become
competitive and
recover or sustain a
competitive edge
within the
marketplace
• Sustaining innovation
• Apple is an example of sustaining innovation. Since the
first iPhone in 2007, the company has come up with new
iterations of the iPhone every year. Every iteration had
new features, improved functionality, beautiful design
and innovations.

• Disruptive innovation
• Airbnb disrupted the hospitality industry.
• Uber disrupted the taxi industry.
• Netflix disrupted the DVD mail service.
• Amazon disrupted brick and mortar commerce. All four
provide a better alternative enabled by new technology.
• New market innovation
• BMW has been manufacturing conventional cars since the early
1950s. Starting with the 1970s, the German car maker has
been researching and testing electric cars. Today BMW electric
cars are among the best in the market and the company is
planning to offer plug-in hybrid versions of all its core-brand
models.
• Integrative innovation
• MailChimp started out as an email provider for small
businesses. The company’s email service was so successful that
it became one of the most popular in the world.
• Listening to their customers’ needs, MailChimp expanded its
services. MailChimp is now more than an email service provider,
it’s an all-in-one marketing platform which empowers its users
to build landing pages, create digital campaigns and leverage
powerful insights. It supports small businesses to reach their
marketing goals faster.
Workplace spirituality
• Spiritual meaning has extended well beyond the personal
to the professional arena
• Spiritual solutions have been sought to ease tumultuous
social and business changes
• Profound changes in values globally have brought a
growing social consciousness and spiritual renaissance
Religion and Spirituality
• To many the process of separating religion from
spirituality is effortless; to others it is equivalent to
surgically dividing conjoined twins
• Spiritual concerns are not synonymous with religious
ones; spiritual concerns are separate from participation
in and the sharing of beliefs with any religious groups
James Marcia’s Identity States

Committed to Identity?
Yes No
Identity Identity
Searching Yes Achievement Moratorium
for
Identity? No Identity Identity
Foreclosure Diffusion
 Identity diffusion: A status that characterizes those who
have neither explored the options nor made a commitment
to an identity

 Identity foreclosure: Commitment to an identity without

having explored the options.
• commitment to an identity without an investment in the
exploration process. This commitment is often a response to
anxiety about uncertainty or change during adolescence or
pressure from parents, social groups, or cultural expectations.
 Identity moratorium: Those who are actively exploring to
establish an identity but have yet to have made any
commitment.

 Identity achievement refers to those who, after

exploration, have committed.
 Identity achievement is a long process and is not often realized
by the end of adolescence. Individuals that do reach identity
achievement feel self-acceptance, stable self-definition, and are
committed to their identity.
 Fred Luthans, Ph.D,
Professor of Management and Social Psychology

• One of the first management scholars to apply behavioral science to

better understand and effectively manage human behavior in
organizations.
• Positive Psychological Capital (“PsyCap”)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_bJ6XdRvnA&index=3&list=PL
HY958_V-5QFI2ILIZQcz3Umx_MK_uzKV

• Reading: https://positivepsychology.com/psychological-capital-
psycap/#application-psychological-capital
Types of Capital
• Types of capital
• Economic
• the amount of capital that a company needs to survive any risks that it
takes
• Human
• Education, skills and knowledge that reside within individuals
• Cultural
• The set of values, history, traditions and behaviours which link a specific
group of people together
• Social
• The social networks that help society to function effectively
• Individual vs. collective returns
• Increase/decrease in social capital
Positive Psychological Capital: The “HERO” Within

Economic Capital vs. Social Capital vs.

Psychological capital
 Psychological Capital:
(the “HERO” within)
- HOPE

• Hope is embracing the unknown and

uncertain, and then taking action
(Snyder (1995).
• There are 3 elements to hope:
1.Having clear goals
2.Thinking of pathways to reach these
goals
3.Being, and staying, motivated to explore
these pathways

• Willpower
• Way power: mental plans or
road maps that guide hopeful
thought
• EFFICACY

• having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on and

put in the necessary effort to succeed at
challenging tasks

• “One’s belief about his or her ability to mobilize the

motivation, cognitive resources, and courses of
action necessary to execute a specific action within a
given context” (Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998 as cited
by Luthans, 2015, p. 30).
Resiliency
• ‐ “The capacity to rebound or bounce back from adversity,
conflict, failure, or even positive events, progress, and
increased responsibility” (Luthans 2002 as cited by
Luthans et al., 2015, p. 145).
Optimism
• ‐ An explanatory or attributional style, which is a style
that enables one to attribute positively experienced events
to personal, permanent, and pervasive causes (Luthans et
al., 2015).
Why is PsyCap important?

1. Well-being
2. Empowerment
3. Reduces psychological distress
4. Enhances performance
5. Improves satisfaction
6. Increases productivity
 PsyCap in Action…
• The Metamorphosis at Robben Island…

• “…[i]t seems that Robben Island morphed from the traditional

oppressive prison paradigm to one where the positively
oriented prisoners disrupted the institution with a resulting
climate of learning and transformation that eventually led to
freedom and the end of apartheid….”
 • An eenvironment of hope and
inspiration leads to feelings of
value and purpose.
Implications • “I've learned that people will forget
what you said, people will forget
for Practice what you did, but people will never
forget how you made them feel”
(Maya Angelou Quote, 2016).
Social
Capital
• “The networks of
relationships among
people who live and work
in a particular society,
enabling that society to
function effectively.”
Types of social capital [Adapted from Woolcock, 1999]
Types of Social Capital
Bonding capital - close ties between people in similar situations –
such as family and close friends - builds trust, reciprocity, and a shared
sense of belonging and identity.
Bridging capital - looser ties to similar people, such as loose
friendships, colleagues, social networking sites - builds broader, more
flexible identities, enables innovations to be shared across networks.
Linking capital – people with different levels of power and status meet
and learn from one another - the ability to access networks of power
and resources beyond their immediate community.
Competence Relatedness
• When people experience their
actions as result of free choice
without external interference.
• This motivation reflects a basic
human need to experience oneself
as capable, to master new
challenges, and to perfect skills.
• our desire to form meaningful
bonds with ohers- to cared and to
be care for.
Psychological
Survival
• Amotivation is the lack or absence of volitional
drive to engage in any activity (Deci and Ryan, 1985)
resulting from non-self-determined motivation
(Markland & Tobin, 2004)
Points to
Ponder!
 Extrinsic rewards can
undermine Self determination
and thereby reduce intrinsic
Relationship motivation

between Extrinsic
and Intrinsic Ted Talk: Puzzle of Motivation_
Daniel Pink
Motivation
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pin
k_the_puzzle_of_motivation?langu
age=en
 Negative Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation: More
Smoke Than Fire
Role of accomplishment, mastery, and/or self-fulfillment

“Why incentive plans cannot work” (Kohn 1993b, Harvard Business Review article )

“The bottom line is that any approach that offers a reward for better performance is
destined to be ineffective” (Kohn, 1993a, p.119).

He further claims, “Possibly the most compelling reason that incentive systems fail is . . .
(that) extrinsic motivators not only are less effective than intrinsic motivation but actually
reduce intrinsic motivation. . . . Furthermore, the more closely we tie compensation (or other
rewards) to performance, the more damage we do” (p. 140).
 Possible Explanation

 Cognitive Evaluation Theory: psychological needs for autonomy and competence underlie
intrinsic motivation.
 Extrinsic rewards affect intrinsic motivation depending on how recipients interpret them.
 If recipients believe that the rewards provide positive information about their own competence
and self-control over results, intrinsic motivation will increase.
 If recipients interpret the results as indicating external control, decreasing their feelings of
self-control and competence, intrinsic motivation decreases.

 The Over justification Effect: Attributions about their own behavior based on what they did and
the social context in which their behavior occurred (Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett 1973).
 The theory suggests that rewarding people for an interesting activity leads them to attribute
their behavior to the extrinsic reward rather than to their intrinsic interest in the activity.
 Thus, intrinsic motivation is lower than if there were no extrinsic reward.
 Case Studies that Prove the Power of Intrinsic Motivation
https://www.bookclub.com/blog/5-real-world-case-studies-that-prove-the-power-of-intrinsic-motivation

1. Google's 20% Time: Autonomy in Action

The Initiative
Google's 20% Time allows employees to spend a fifth of their working hours on projects they're
passionate about, unrelated to their primary job responsibilities.
The Results
This policy has led to the development of some of Google's most successful products, like Gmail and
Google News. By granting autonomy, Google has managed to foster innovation, job satisfaction, and
exceptional performance.

Lessons for L&D and HR Professionals

Use similar "innovation time" projects in your organization to build a culture of autonomy. Even if
it's not 20%, giving employees some time to work on what engages them can pay off significantly.
2. Zappos: Delivering Happiness Through Purpose
The Initiative
Zappos's core purpose goes beyond selling shoes and clothing. They aim to "deliver happiness.“

The Results
Zappos has one of the most loyal customer bases, boasting a retention rate of 75%. Employees are
more engaged because they see a higher purpose to their work beyond just selling products.

Lessons for L&D and HR Professionals

Work to identify and communicate the higher purpose of your company. Make this purpose a central
part of your onboarding and training processes to instill intrinsic motivation.
 L&D and HR Professionals
Work to identify and communicate the higher purpose of your company. Make this purpose a central
part of your onboarding and training processes to instill intrinsic motivation.
3. Atlassian’s ShipIt Days: Mastering Skills in 24 Hours
The Initiative
Atlassian has a quarterly event called "ShipIt Day" where employees have 24 hours to complete a
project of their choice.
The Results
This has not only resulted in valuable new product features but has also boosted employee morale
and job satisfaction.
Lessons for L&D and HR Professionals
Consider short-term, intensive "hackathons" or skill-building events that allow your team to express
their skills and creativity in a non-traditional setting.
4. Adobe's Check-in System: Shifting Away from Control

The Initiative
Adobe has replaced annual performance reviews with regular "check-ins," where the emphasis is on
feedback and development, not ratings or promotions.

The Results
Voluntary attrition decreased by 30% after the implementation of the system, and internal surveys
showed increased employee engagement.

Lessons for L&D and HR Professionals

Traditional performance reviews often focus on extrinsic rewards like promotions or raises. Shift the
focus towards growth and development to boost intrinsic motivation.
5. Spotify’s Squads: Small Teams, Big Autonomy

The Initiative
Spotify organizes its engineers into "squads," small cross-functional teams that operate like mini-
startups.

The Results
This enables rapid innovation and high employee engagement. Squads have the autonomy to decide
what to build, how to build it, and how to work together while building it.

Lessons for L&D and HR Professionals

Autonomy can exist within a framework. Small, empowered teams can execute strategy more
quickly and effectively than larger, more bureaucratic structures.
Four Types of
Motivation
1.Intrinsic Motivation: This type comes from within a person to do a task or achieve a
particular goal. It is a feeling of being self-driven and achieving objectives for oneself.
Intrinsic motivation is driven by motives like social acceptance, eating food, desires to
achieve goals, biological needs etc.
2. Extrinsic Motivation: This type drives an individual due to external forces or
parameters. Some other person or organization motivates the individual to work hard to
achieve certain goals or tasks. Extrinsic motivation is driven by motives like financial
bonus, rewards, appreciation, promotion, punishment, demotion etc.
3. Positive Motivation: This type drives an individual by offering positive accolades and
rewards for performing a task. In this type of motivation, the individual is rewarded by
monetary benefits, promotions etc. which drives an individual to work hard.
4. Negative Motivation: This is where fear and threat are used as a parameter to get the
work done. In this type of motivation, individuals are threatened with things like
demotion, reducing benefits, withdrawing merits etc.
For every individual, all the types are interlinked based on which he or she takes an
action. The resultant behavior of any person is basis the motivation types he or she has
been influenced by.
Leadership and Positive Psychology: A Multi-Level Positive Behavior Framework

Travis P. Searle
PhD Graduate Student
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68583-0709
402 472-2807
[email protected]

John E. Barbuto, Jr.

Associate Professor
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68583-0709
402-472-8736
[email protected]
 Leadership and Positive Psychology: A Multi-Level Positive Behavior Framework

Abstract
This paper reviews the literature on the micro (i.e., individual level) and macro levels
(i.e., organizational level) of positive behavior to propose a framework that includes seven levels
of positive behaviors--individual, dyadic, group/team, organizational, community, societal, and
environmental levels. The micro level of positive organizational behavior is extended from the
individual level to include the dyadic and teams levels. The macro level of positive
organizational scholarship is extended from the organizational level to include the community,
societal, and environmental levels. The role of leadership as antecedents to positive behaviors is
also developed. Three positive forms of leadership (i.e., transformational leadership, servant
leadership, and authentic leadership) are used as antecedents, and the potential multi-level
outcomes associated with positive behavior are explored. This paper provides testable
propositions and sets the stage for future empirical research.

2
 Research in positive psychology, which focuses on what is right with people rather than
what is wrong, has received increasing attention during the past decade since it was first
introduced (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Snyder & Lopez, 2002). Positive psychology
has been praised for its potential to help individuals, communities, and societies prosper (Gable
& Haidt, 2005; Sheldon & King, 2001). This multi-level approach to the outcomes of positive
psychology has been acknowledged by organizational scholars seeking to understand the positive
side of organizations and individuals. While the multi-level outcomes of positive psychology are
well recognized in the literature, the levels that positive behaviors occur are less explicit. This
has led to conceptualizations of positive behavior as both a micro and macro level phenomenon
(see Cameron & Caza, 2004; Luthans, 2002b; Luthans & Avolio, 2009).
Luthans and colleagues have developed Positive Organizational Behavior (POB), which
emphasizes micro level approaches with the positive development of individuals within the
organization (Luthans 2002a, 2002b; Luthans & Avolio, 2009). Cameron and colleagues
introduced the term Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), which focuses on the macro
level of the positive behavior in organization (Cameron & Caza, 2002, 2004; Cameron, Dutton,
& Quinn, 2003). The dichotomy of the micro and macro classifications masks the complexity
that influences human behavior at multiple levels. For example, positivity should be capable of
impacting at individual, group, organizational, community, and societal levels, but frameworks
articulated to date have focused on the dichotomous operationalizations of individual and
organizational levels (Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn, 2003; Luthans & Avolio, 2009). However,
scholars have yet to develop a framework that more clearly delineates the multiple levels of
positive behaviors. This paper develops a framework that expands the macro and micro approach
beyond the individual and organization to include multi-levels of positive behaviors.
Organizational behavior scholars have researched positive psychology constructs
primarily as independent variables. Positive psychology has been used to predict such variables
as job satisfaction (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007), job performance (Luthans, Avolio, Avey,
& Norman, 2007; Peterson & Byron, 2008), job commitment (Luthans et al., 2008), work
happiness (Youssef & Luthans, 2007), and social responsibility (Giacalone, Paul, & Jurkiewicz,
2005). Testing the antecedents of positive psychology constructs is necessary to continue to
understand the phenomena (Peterson & Seligman, 2003). Clarifying the relationships between
leadership and positive psychology is necessary to set the stage for future research opportunities.
Historically, leadership has been looked at as a phenomenon that can bring about positive
change in individuals, communities, and societies (Bass & Bass, 2008; Luthans et al., 2007).
Recently, scholars have recognized the importance of testing the antecedents of positive behavior
constructs and have suggested leadership as a possible antecedent (Luthans, 2002a). This
became the genesis to authentic leadership, which proposed individual-level positive psychology
variables as both inputs and outputs (Avolio et al., 2004; Luthans & Avolio, 2003). Several
scholars have called for increased research of positive organization behavior in the leadership
literature – articulating a breadth of research opportunities (Avolio & Luthans, 2006; Gardner et
al., 2005; Helland & Winston, 2005). Prior to testing the relationships between leadership and
positive behaviors (POB, POS, etc.) some construct clarification and framework development is
necessary. Given the importance of clarifying the relationships between leadership and all forms
of positive behaviors – a framework clarifying the interplay of these constructs is proposed.
The Framework
The strength of this framework lies in its expansion of two well known streams of
research within organizational scholarship (i.e., POB and POS) to articulate seven distinct levels
of positive behavior. The framework (see figure 1) explicates the POB micro level approach to
include positive behavior at the individual, but also at the dyadic and group/team levels. POS has
typically been considered at the macro level approach to positive psychology with organizations
(Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn, 2003). This framework explicates this macro level approach to
included positive behavior at the organization level, but also at the community level, societal
level, and environmental level. Scholars in positive psychology have described the potential
benefits positive psychology can have on the community and societal levels (Gable & Haidt,
2005). Each level is described more fully, followed by the role of leadership across each level.
<Insert Figure 1 About Here>
This framework illustrates how leadership may influence the development of each of
these seven levels of positive behavior. The leadership style used may have multi-level impacts
on positive behavior. Leaders interested in obtaining positive behaviors at the individual level
may require a different form of leadership than leaders pursuing positive behaviors at the
environmental level. Leaders interested in obtaining positive behaviors at the dyadic level may
require a different form of leadership than those seeking positive behaviors at the societal level.
Each style of leadership may not be compatible with all seven levels of positive behaviors. This
framework raises the need to consider positive behavior at multiple levels, and also as a
dependent variable.
Each level of the multi-level positive behavior framework will be described in the
upcoming sections. This will be achieved by reviewing the relevant literature that informs each
of the seven levels of positive behaviors – individual, dyadic, group/team, organization,
community, society, and environmental. Additionally the framework will describe the role that
leadership may play across these seven levels – using three potentially positive forms of
leadership (i.e., authentic leadership, servant leadership, and transformational leadership). The
final part of the proposed framework describes the level-specific outcomes of positive behaviors.
Levels of Positive Behaviors
Scholars have recognized the need to explicate the level at which behavior is studied,
which enables the proper identification of theory, measurement, data analysis, and most
importantly valid inference of results (Yammarino, Dionne, Chun, & Dansereau, 2005).
Researchers have found that empirical findings can change according to the level (i.e.,
individual, group, or organizational level) at which they are tested—findings that are significant
at a particular level are sometimes found to be insignificant when considered at another level
(Dansereau, Alutto, & Yammarino, 1984; Yammarino & Dansereau, 2008). Researchers have
also noted the ecological fallacy that may occur when scholars begin using finding from a
particular level to make assertions about relations at a higher or lower level (Pedhazur, 1997;
Snijders & Bosker, 1999). These potential methodological problems call for researchers to
explicitly recognize the level of positive behavior they are interested in, which will enable them
to systematically plan for the prevention of these problems. This multi-level nature of behavior
was recognized in the earlier genesis of positive behavior.
Various authors have implicitly and explicitly recognized that positive behavior may
occur at multiple levels (i.e., individual, group, institutional, and societal) (Seligman &
Csikszentimhalyi, 2000; Gable & Haidt, 2005). This notion was partially recognized by
organizational scholars as they have considered the micro level, which has been identified as the
individual level (Luthans, 2002) and the macro level, which has been identified as the
organizational level (Cameron & Caza, 2002; Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn, 2003). Recently
scholars have suggested that positive behavior may operate at additional levels, such as the team

2
or group level (Schriesheim, Wu, & Scandura, 2009; West, Patera, & Carsten, 2009;
Yammarino, Dionne, Schriesheim, & Dansereau, 2008).
Searle and Barbuto (2010) raised concerns that the dichotomous representation of micro
and macro behavior are too constricting and recommended refining positive conceptualizations
to articulate multiple levels of analysis in positive behaviors. More of an explicit framework is
needed, which is able to bridge and expands these micro and macro levels to incorporate multiple
levels at which positive behavior may occur. This framework identifies seven levels of positive
behaviors – individual, dyadic, group/team, organizational, community, societal, and
environmental.
Individual Level
Most researchers consider positive behaviors primarily at the individual level (Snyder &
Lopez, 2002). This level was centered on the individual and the positive behaviors that originate
from and within individuals. At this level individuals were described as independent of one
another and researchers focused on individual differences (Yammarino, Dionne, Chun, &
Dansereau, 2005). Positive behavior constructs such as resiliency (Masten & Reed, 2002), hope
(Snyder, 2000), optimism (Seligman, 2006), and flow (Csikszentmihalyi, Abuhamdeh, &
Nakamura, 2005) have been examined at the individual levels in a variety of contexts.
The individual levels of positive behaviors are undoubtedly the most widely researched
of the seven levels identified in this framework. For example, studies have tested the positive
behaviors of hope, optimism, self-efficacy, resiliency, and psychological capital and have found
positive relationships with performance, employee job satisfaction, work happiness, and
organizational commitment (Luthans, Avolio, Avey, & Norman, 2007; Luthans, Avolio,
Walumbwa, & Li, 2005; Luthans & Youssef, 2007). The value of research of positive behaviors
at the individual level is in no way under criticism in this paper, but rather, the opportunity to
more fully delineate the levels that exist, and needs to be studied beyond the individual level,
thus moving toward the dyadic level of positive behaviors.
Dyadic Level
Positive behaviors can also occur at the dyadic level, which have been described as a
special level of interactions where two individuals who are independent but also interdependent
are collectively studied (Yammarino et al., 2005). Leader member exchange (LMX) theory
articulates the many positive aspects of strengthened relationships between leaders and their
followers – with LMX relating positively to individual targeted behaviors, organizational
targeted behaviors, and employee citizenship behaviors (Ilies, Nahrgang, & Morgeson, 2007),
and job performance, satisfaction with supervisor, overall satisfaction, commitment, member
competence (Gerstner & Day, 1997). These results speak to the positive impacts that high
quality, high autonomous, high trusting relationships can result in positive behaviors. The
dyadic-level of positive behaviors distinct from individual level phenomena and may result in a
host of research and practical implications. Beyond the dyadic level, there are positive behaviors
that occur at the group and team level.
Group/Team Level
Positive behavior can also occur at the group or team level, which have been described as
a collection of individuals who are interdependent and interact either face-to-face or in a virtual
basis with each other (Yammarino et al., 2005). Researchers have widely recognized the
necessity of studying group/team level phenomenon, but only recently have they started to
consider positive behaviors at group/team level. Examples of group level positive behaviors may
include such phenomena as collective optimism and resiliency (West, Patera, & Carsten, 2009),

3
collective self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), and collective hope (Snyder, 2000). A positive group or
positive team dynamics approach to the positive behavior literature lends itself to a number of
potential research inquiries and practices.
In the seminal work of psychological capital, the authors proposed that future research
should consider psychological capital of groups/teams (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007).
Recently, scholars have recommended expanding the work on positive organizational behavior
from the individual level to include the group/team level (Yammarino, Dionne, Schriesheim, &
Dansereau, 2008). This has led others to begin to empirically test group level positive behaviors
of hope, optimism, and resiliency, and their relations with team level outcomes, such as,
cohesion, cooperation, coordination, satisfaction, and conflict (West, Patera, & Carsten, 2009).
This framework explicates that the micro level of positive behavior should be extended to
include the individual level, dyadic level, and now the group/team level. Beyond the individual,
dyadic, and group/team levels, positive behavior also occurs at the organization level.
Organizational Level
Positive behavior has been studied at the organizational level in a variety of research
efforts (see Cameron & Caza, 2002, 2004; Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn, 2003). The
organizational level is a cluster of individuals, which are interdependent, but linked by a
hierarchical structure or set of common beliefs, attitudes or values (Yammarino et al., 2005).
Psychology scholars originally conceptualized the idea of positive behavior as an umbrella term,
which included positive behaviors from enabling institutions (Seligman & Csikszentmishalyi,
2000; Seligman, 2005). The study of positive behavior at the organizational level has been
recognized (Cameron & Caza, 2004), and has received a considerable degree of popularity
within the academic discipline (Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn, 2003). For example, organizational
virtuousness has been positively related to performance (Cameron, Bright, & Caza, 2004; Caza,
Barker, & Cameron, 2004), and organizational resilience, organizational forgiveness,
organizational compassion, and organizational citizenship behaviors (Cameron, Dutton, &
Quinn, 2003) have been either empirically tested or hypothesized as having positive outcomes.
This focus on the organizational level of positive behaviors are more commonly referred to as
the macro level of positive behavior in the workplace (Luthans & Avolio, 2009), but for the
purposes of this framework, it represents one of seven levels that positive behaviors can occur.
This macro level can be developed further to include additional levels. Beyond the organizational
level there exists a community level of positive behaviors.
Community Level
Positive behaviors can occur at the community level, which is a clustering of
organizations, groups, and individuals, which are interdependent and linked by a common
geographical area or potentially a common set of beliefs, attitudes or values. This level of
positive behavior has only been implicitly recognized by scholars and has received minimal
emphasis, although the idea of community level positive behavior was proposed in earlier calls
for emphasis on positive behavior (Seligman & Csikzentmishalyi, 2000). This community level
positive behavior was also implicitly recognized in Cameron and Lavine (2006) organizational
level study, of the clean-up a nuclear manufacturing site outside of Denver, CO. This study
illustrated how the surrounding communities of the larger Denver metropolitan area fostered
positive behavior at the community level—as individuals, groups, organizations, and local and
federal government officials all combined their efforts to bring about positive deviance.
Schueller (2009) has recently proposed the importance of connecting the fields of
positive psychology and community psychology for increased community wellness. Other

4
possible community level positive behaviors are volunteerism (Karwalajtys et al., 2009),
community involvement (Hull et al., 2009; Jimenez et al., 2009), community health (Brodsky,
O‘Campo, & Aronson, 1999; Bull et al., 2006), neighborhood integration (Unger &
Wandersman, 1985), and community based prevention planning (Cheon, 2008; Fagan et al.,
2007). While not all of these studies explicitly discuss positive behaviors, they do articulate
collective benefits for the community and emphasize outcomes that are optimal for community
vitalization and sustainability. Beyond the individual, dyadic, group/team, organizational, and
community levels there are also positive behaviors that occur at societal levels.
Societal Level
Positive behaviors occur at the societal level, which presents as a clustering of
communities, which are interdependent and may or may not share a set of common beliefs,
attitudes or values. These societies are most typically defined through nations or collection of
nations that may share geographic proximity and/or social, belief, attitude or value-based
congruencies. Hofstede (1993, 1994) described cultural clusters that connect societies across
several dimensions. The emphasis of this work was not toward a level of positivity, but rather
was descriptive in nature to advance the dialogue and promote more pluralistic practices. The
GLOBE also articulated societal level commonalities and differences (House et al., 2004;
Javidan & Dastmalchian, 2009; Scandura & Dorfman, 2004). Both works have led to a stream
of research at the societal level, but emphasis was not placed on positive societal behaviors – so
this line of inquiry appears to have many research opportunities.
The idea of societal positive behavior was recognized in the early conceptualization of
positive behavior (Gable & Haidt, 2005; Seligman & Csikzentmishalyi, 2000), and one positive
psychologist has started examining happiness at the societal level (Diener & Lucas, 2000), but
overall the societal level of positive behavior has received limited research. Issues such as
quality of life, collective happiness of nations, peacefulness vs. periods of war/conflict, as well as
collective hope, and collective resilience of societies may each offer potential for empirical
inquiry. Beyond the individual, dyadic, group/team, organization, and community level –
positive behaviors can also occur at the environmental level.
Environmental Level
Positive behaviors occur at the environmental level, which represents the positive benefit
which the environment can have on an individual, group, organization or community. The
qualitative study of the nuclear waste in Colorado illustrated the negative and positive benefits
the environment can play on neighboring communities and wildlife. Through exemplary
coordination of individuals, groups, organizations, and communities they were able to restore the
environment surrounding the nuclear manufacturing plant to above federal regulation guidelines
(Cameron & Lavine, 2006). There has been a recent surge in interest in providing environmental
friendly organizations, products, and policies (Burton, 2009; Carson, 1962; Maggio et al., 2008).
For example, popular environmental issues of ―going green‖ (Brown, 2009; Hussain, 1999),
sustainable products (French, 2008; Maxwell & van der Vorst, 2003), and environmental
friendly initiatives such as conservation (Beekman, 1998; Castro, Garrido, Reis, & Menezes,
2009 or recycling (Chakrabarti et al., 1999; Jesson, 2009; Meneses & Palacio, 2005) have
illustrated the positive impacts that environmental-level positive behaviors can have.
Taken together the seven levels appear distinct and real in the articulation of positive
behaviors. It is implied in the proposed framework that these levels of behavior may be predicted
by certain styles of leadership and that these various levels of positive behavior will also lead to

5
level-specific outcomes. The next consideration in this framework is to clarify the style of
leadership in fostering the multiple levels of positive behaviors.
Leadership
For centuries, the leadership literature has shared anecdotal stories of ‗great leaders‘ that
have brought about positive changes in individuals and organizations (Bass & Bass, 2008;
Popper et al., 2004). For the purpose of this framework three positive leadership
conceptualizations are incorporated – transformational leadership, servant leadership, and
authentic leadership.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership has its roots in earlier work dichotomizing transforming with
transactional leadership in inter-dependent conceptualization of leader and follower development
(Bass, 1985). Since, it has been operationalized with three, and later, four dimensions of
transformational leadership: idealized influence (the leader is a role model), inspirational
motivation (the leader motivates and inspires their followers, and shares a vision), intellectual
stimulation (the leader will allow for and encourage new ways of thinking), and individual
consideration (the leader will take into account the unique needs, desires, and skill of followers).
Individualized Consideration. Individualized consideration involves leaders taking the
time to understand the unique needs and goals of followers (Bass, 1985). Individualized
consideration has consistently related to extra effort, satisfaction, and perceived organizational
effectiveness (Dumdum et al., 2002; Lowe et al., 1996). Other studies have also reported
significant relationships between individualized consideration and coworker relationships, leader
member relationships (Li & Hung, 2009) and commitment (Bycio et al., 1995). In this
framework, individualized consideration is described as ideally suited for fostering positive
behaviors at the individual and dyadic levels.
Proposition 1: Individualized consideration will relate positively to most positive
behaviors at the individual and dyadic levels.
Idealized Influence. Idealized influence is characterized by leaders developing respect
and trust from followers while becoming a symbol for the cause (Bass, 1985). Leaders high in
idealized influence are seen as charismatic and highly influential – expressing great confidence
in the organization, and dedication to the goals that are ascribed (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
Research has consistently reported relationships between idealized influence (termed charisma in
earlier works) and several positive outcomes – extra effort, satisfaction, and perceived
organizational effectiveness (Dumdum et al., 2002; Lowe et al., 1996). Studies have also
reported relationships between idealized influence and leader member relationships, (Li & Hung,
2009), and commitment (Bycio et al., 1995). Taken together, idealized influence has a consistent
positive presence in the literature and is likely to lead to positive behaviors at the dyadic,
group/team, and organizational levels.
Proposition 2: Attributed and behavioral idealized influence will relate positively to most
positive behaviors at the individual, dyadic, and group/team levels.
Inspirational Motivation. Inspirational motivation is characterized by leaders‘ providing
appealing visions, with high expectations, and encouragement that often leads to followers
exceeding expectations (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Research has reported consistent relationships
between inspirational motivation and positive outcomes – extra effort, satisfaction, and perceived
organizational effectiveness (Dumdum et al., 2002; Lowe et al., 1996). Other studies reported
relationships between inspirational motivation and leader member relationships and coworker
relationships (Li & Hung, 2009), and commitment (Bycio et al., 1995). Taken together,

6
inspirational motivation likely fosters positive behaviors at the individual, dyadic, group/team,
and organizational levels.
Proposition 3: Inspirational motivation will relate positively to most positive behaviors at
the individual, dyadic, group/team, and organizational levels.
Intellectual Stimulation. Intellectual stimulation is characterized by leaders encouraging
followers to think creatively and innovatively solve problems (Bass & Riggio, 2006). The
emphasis has been on leaders‘ stimulating the intellect of followers, not so much displaying their
own intellect or wisdom to impact decision making. Research has reported consistent
relationships with extra effort, satisfaction, and perceived organizational effectiveness (Dumdum
et al., 2002; Lowe et al., 1996). Other studies have reported relationships between intellectual
stimulation and corporate social responsibility (Waldman, Siegel, & Javidan, 2006), leader
member relationships (Li & Hung, 2009), and commitment (Bycio et al., 1995). Taken together,
intellectual stimulation is expected to foster positive behaviors at both the dyadic and group/team
levels.
Proposition 4: Intellectual stimulation will be related positively to most positive
behaviors at the dyadic and group/team levels.
Servant Leadership
Since Greenleaf‘s (1977) seminal essay on servant leadership the concept has become
highly visible in the popular press and somewhat visible in practice, but has been invisible in
scholarly research. Empirical research of servant leadership occurred with the recent clarification
of the construct and development of an empirical measure (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). This
clarification and measure has stimulated subsequent efforts to study servant leadership (Liden,
Wayne, Zhao, & Henderson, 2008; Neubert et al., 2008; Sendjaya, Sarros, & Santora, 2008).
Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) clarified the construct of servant leadership and developed a
scale to operationalize it for research. Through the scale development and validation process five
dimensions were identified - altruistic calling, emotional healing, wisdom, persuasive mapping,
and organizational stewardship.
Altruistic Calling. Altruistic calling consisted of a fundamental conscious choice to serve
others (Greenleaf, 1977). This deep-rooted desire to positively influence others through service
was central to the servant leadership ideology (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). Servant leaders
embrace service to followers, and sacrificing self-interest for their followers‘ development (Bass,
2000; Graham, 1991). They desire positive development in individuals, organizations,
communities, and societies (Liden et al., 2008). The necessity for altruism in leadership was
recognized by many scholars (Avolio & Locke, 2002; Block, 1996) as was the altruistic nature of
a servant leadership (Sendjaya, Sarros, & Santora, 2008). Research has reported relationships
with extra effort, satisfaction, and effectiveness (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). Taken together,
altruistic calling is expected to foster positive behaviors at the individual and dyadic levels.
Proposition 5: Altruistic calling will positively relate to positive behaviors at the
individual and dyadic levels.
Emotional Healing. Emotional healing described an ability to recognize when and how
to facilitate the healing process, which included a leader‘s ability to foster spiritual recovery
from hardship and trauma (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). Servant leaders are highly empathetic and
are able to show sensitivity to others‘ personal concerns (Liden et al., 2008). They create an
environment with their followers to enable them to voice personal and professional concerns
(Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). Scholars have recognized the need for leaders able to help followers
recover hope, overcome broken dreams, and severed relationships (Dacher, 1999; Sturnick,

7
1998). Research has reported relationships with extra effort, satisfaction, and effectiveness
(Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006) and organizational commitment (Liden et al., 2008). Taken together,
emotional healing is expected to foster positive behaviors at the individual and dyadic levels.
Proposition 6: Emotional Healing will positively relate to positive behaviors at the
individual and dyadic levels.
Wisdom. Wisdom described an ability to pick up cues from the environment and to
recognize possible consequences and implications of their observations (Barbuto & Wheeler,
2006). Servant leaders are observant and anticipatory across multiple contexts enabling them to
appropriately apply their knowledge into forward action (Bierly et al., 2000). Scholars have
recognized the need for leaders with a strong sense of awareness (Sosik & Megerian, 1999;
Sternberg, 2000) coupled with an ability to apply the knowledge gained through punctuated
observation (Kant, 1978; Plato, 1945). Research has reported relationships with extra effort,
satisfaction, and effectiveness (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). Taken together, the servant
leadership dimension of wisdom is expected to foster positive behaviors at the dyadic,
group/team, and organizational levels.
Proposition 7: Wisdom will positively relate to positive behaviors at the dyadic,
group/team, and organizational levels.
Persuasive Mapping. Persuasive mapping described an ability to use mental models and
sound reasoning to encourage lateral thinking in others (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). Servant
leaders high in persuasive mapping are skilled at articulating issues and conceptualizing
possibilities that are compelling by sharing their train of thought (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006).
They have the necessary knowledge to assist and support their followers effectively (Liden et al.,
2008). Researchers have reported persuasively presented models to be more productive than
authority based influences on positive outcomes (Druskat & Pescosolido, 2002). Research has
reported relationships with extra effort, satisfaction, and effectiveness (Barbuto & Wheeler,
2006). Taken together, persuasive mapping works is expected to foster positive behaviors at the
dyadic, group/team, and organizational levels.
Proposition 8: Persuasive Mapping will positively relate to positive behaviors at the
dyadic, group/team, and organizational levels.
Organizational Stewardship. Organizational stewardship described the extent that leaders
prepare their organization to make a positive contribution in the community and society (Barbuto
& Wheeler, 2006). This emphasis is accomplished by reaching out to the community through
community development programs, outreach activities, and facilitating company policies that
benefit the surrounding community, society and environment. Servant leaders have a genuine
ideology to advocate that their organization creates value for the community (Liden et al., 2008).
A servant leader demonstrates a strong sense of responsible morality and encourages
organizations to have moral and ethical actions that benefit all stakeholders (Liden et al., 2008;
Sendjaya, Sarros, & Santora, 2008). Research has reported relationships with extra effort,
satisfaction, and effectiveness (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006) and community citizenship behavior
(Liden et al., 2008). Taken together, organizational stewardship is expected to foster positive
behaviors at the organizational, community, societal, and environmental levels.
Proposition 9: Organizational Stewardship will positively relate to positive behaviors at
the organizational, community, societal, and environmental levels.
Authentic Leadership
Authentic leadership had its origin in early efforts to combat the unethical behavior of top
business executives (Luthans & Avolio, 2003). Nevertheless, the concept of authentic behavior

8
has pervaded in the academia settings for the past 5-7 years, and can be traced back in its origins
to Greek philosophy (see Harter, 2002; Luthans & Avolio, 2003). Authentic leaders are true to
their inner values and beliefs and their behaviors reflect these. Authentic leaders have been
described as highly moral, and behave consistent with these moral values for the benefit all the
collective. Authentic leaders avoid acting phony, hiding their true thoughts and feelings – even
when unpleasant truths may be revealed (Kernis & Goldman, 2005; Luthans & Avolio, 2003).
Scholars have recently clarified the construct of authentic leadership and developed a
scale to operationalize it for research. Through the scale development and validation process four
dimensions were identified – self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral
perspective, and balanced processing.
Self-Awareness. Self-awareness describes the understanding that leaders have to reflect
inward on how they derive meaning of the world, and how that meaning impacts oneself and
others (Walumbwa et al., 2008). Self-awareness also deals with how thoroughly the leader
understands their strengths and weakness. Self-awareness includes having an understanding of
the ― multifaceted nature of the self, which includes gaining insight into the self through
exposure to others, and being cognizant of one‘s impact on other people‖ (Walumbwa et al,
2008, p. 95). Research has reported relationships with organizational citizenship behavior, self-
awareness and organizational commitment, and satisfaction with supervisor (Walumbwa et al.,
2008). Taken together, self-awareness appears to foster positive behaviors at the individual level.
Proposition 10: The self-awareness dimension of authentic leadership will facilitate
positive behavior at the individual level.
Relational Transparency. Relational transparency involves leaders allowing followers to
see their authentic self – in all day to day interactions and decisions (Walumbwa et al., 2008).
Authentic leaders are capable of openly sharing information, and their true thoughts. They also
try to minimize displays of inappropriate emotions (Walumbwa et al, 2008). Research has
reported relationships with organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment, and
satisfaction with supervisor (Walumbwa et al., 2008). Taken together, relational transparency is
expected to foster positive behaviors at the individual level.
Proposition 11: The relational transparency dimension of authentic leadership will
facilitate positive behavior at the individual level.
Internalized Moral Perspective. Internalized moral perspective involves leaders guiding
followers using their personal internal moral standards and values. Authentic leaders are not
guided by external sources such as peers, organizations, and societal pressures (Walumbwa et al,
2008). Research has reported relationships with organizational citizenship behavior, self-
awareness and organizational commitment, and satisfaction with supervisor (Walumbwa et al.,
2008). Taken together, internalized moral perspective is expected to foster positive behaviors at
the individual level.
Proposition 12: The internalized moral perspective dimension of authentic leadership will
facilitate positive behavior at the individual level.
Balanced Processing. The fourth dimension of authentic leadership is balanced
processing, which entails authentic leaders using their capacity to objectively look at all relevant
facts and data before making their decision (Walumbwa et al., 2008). This dimension would be
similar to examining ―both sides of the story‖ when making decisions – not relying on group
think or dominant views (Janis, 1972). Research has reported relationships with organizational
citizenship behavior, self-awareness and organizational commitment, and satisfaction with

9
supervisor (Walumbwa et al., 2008). Taken together, balanced processing is expected to foster
positive behaviors at the individual level.
Proposition 13: The balanced processing dimension of authentic leadership will facilitate
positive behavior at the individual level.
Outcomes
Scholars have recognized the importance of specifying the level of inquire in research
studies (Dansereau & Yammarino, 1998a, 1998b). With proper consideration of levels in theory
building, measurement, data analysis and inference drawing (Yammarino et al., 2005)
researchers can be more accurate in their conclusions and avoid erroneous conclusions. The level
of inquiry that a researcher is interested in investigating has level specific outcomes that are
possible (Dansereau, Alutto, & Yammarino, 1984). When considering the seven levels of
positive behavior, the idea of level specific outcomes is continued. Each level of positive
behavior will have level specific outcomes. Thus the following propositions are offered.
Proposition 14a: The individual level of positive behavior will have individual positive
outcomes.
Proposition 14b: The dyadic level of positive behavior will have dyadic positive
outcomes.
Proposition 14c: The group/team level of positive behavior will have group/team positive
outcomes.
Proposition 14d: The organizational level of positive behavior will have organizational
level positive outcomes.
Proposition 14e: The community level of positive behavior will have community level
positive outcomes.
Proposition 14f: The societal level of positive behavior will have societal level positive
outcomes.
Proposition 14g: The environmental level of positive behavior will have environmental
level positive outcomes.
This paper proposed a conceptual framework linking three potentially positive forms of
leadership (i.e., transformational leadership, servant leadership, and authentic leadership) to
multiple levels of positive behaviors. This framework delineated from the micro and macro
levels of positive behavior to articulate a more expansive representation of seven levels of
positive behaviors (see Figure 2). Propositions were developed, which proposed relationships
between leadership styles and the various levels of behaviors. Additionally, the framework
clarifies level specific outcomes resulting from multiple levels of positive behaviors.
<Insert Figure 2 About Here>
Discussion
This paper provided a framework identifying the multiple levels that positive behaviors may
occur, as well as the leadership styles that may produce these positive behaviors. Additionally,
the framework advocates examining level specific outcomes that correspond to the appropriate
level of analysis of positive behaviors.
There are four major contributions of this framework. First, this framework provides a
foundation for clarifying future research. The recent influx in positive behavior research will
enable researchers to test level specific positive behaviors—theoretical and level-specific
outcomes. This framework will also guide researchers‘ efforts to test the intended levels of
positive behaviors. This framework allows for the proper development of theory, measurement,
data analysis and inference drawing of positive behaviors.

10
 Another contribution of this framework is that it clarifies and delineates the present micro
and macro levels of positive behavior to include—seven levels of positive behavior. The micro
level has been expanded to include the dyadic and group/team levels. The macro level has been
expanded to include the community, societal, and environmental levels. This clarification offers
researchers more precision with which to study multi-level positive behaviors within the
traditional positive organizational behavior subfield.
A third substantive contribution of the developed framework is its articulation of the
antecedents of positive behavior using leadership theories to explain such antecedents. This
framework integrates three forms of leadership (i.e., transformational leadership, servant
leadership, and authentic leadership) with positive behavior. This framework proposes that
different styles of leadership may produce level specific positive behaviors.
Finally, this framework recognizes the importance of studying leadership at multiple
levels of analysis. Leadership scholars have recognized the need to clearly delineate the level of
interest when considering leadership (Yammarino et al., 2005). This framework develops several
testable propositions for level specific behavior of three popular forms of leadership. This
framework proposes that the three different styles of leadership can bring about some of the
same level phenomenon, but also some styles are better suited for specific levels of inquiry. In
several instances, the leadership styles that precede positive behaviors may result in multi-level
positive behaviors – but the outcomes articulated in the framework likely correspond to the
levels of positive behaviors. Researchers must therefore be cognizant of the level of behavior
they are interested in studying.
Research Implications
Future research needs to test the propositions that have been proposed in this framework.
These empirical tests will need to properly recognize the multi-level nature of positive behavior
and leadership. Researchers may need to reconsider existing measurements of positive behaviors
and leadership to ensure appropriate levels of analysis. For example, researchers may need to
create measures of positive behavior for the specific level of inquiry they are interested in.
Research may also need to alter current measurements of authentic leadership, transformational
leadership and servant leadership accordingly. Currently, there is a transformational leadership
measure for work/teams, but no other measurements currently exist for styles of leadership
beyond the individual or dyadic levels of analysis.
Future research should consider the levels of positive behavior and the multi-level nature
of leadership. It may be possible that other levels of positive behaviors will be needed. In
addition, this framework illustrates the vast amount of empirical research that is needed that
recognizes and tests the multi-level nature of leadership. Finally, more research is needed in
leadership that considers the community, societal, and environmental levels.
Leadership scholars should expand the current theories and styles of leadership to
incorporate more macro level phenomena or identify more level specific conceptualization of
leadership, which takes into consideration these multiple levels of positive behaviors. Leadership
scholars may also need to consider a multi-level theory of ―positive leadership,‖ which may offer
the best explanation for positive behaviors at different levels.

11
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