Introducing Positive Leadership

June 22, 2021 | Reading time: 2 min

At EOS, we have dedicated ourselves to make happiness a focus the entire organization. We believe in a positive company culture. Therefore, we have started a global cultural transformation to create a safe space, while focusing on our strengths, common goals, and solutions.

Making Happiness a Focus for our Organization

Positive leadership behavior promotes happiness, well-being, and mindfulness in the workplace as well as in our everyday lives. Research has shown that the application of positive leadership practices is linked to increased company performance, turning dysfunctional teams with poor employee commitment into companies with strong work ethics and high employee retention.

At EOS, we want to create highly effective workplaces where people can thrive and flourish. This will give us the energy that we need to overcome the challenges of the changing world and continue our success story.

The EOS community is dedicated to professional results and creating a comfortable work environment for all. Defining how we envision our ideal workplace environment is an important first step. Therefore, we invited management and employees to collaborate with human resources and design a space for positive leadership in our company, our teams, and our geographic regions.

What Positive Leadership is about

Positive leadership is a model that refers to a set of actions and behaviors, taken by individuals to motivate and cultivate others through mechanisms of empowerment, engagement and collaborative assignment to meaningful work. It is about unleashing the Power of Positivity.

Positive Leadership is not about sweet-talking, it is about being authentic, honest, and cultivating a trusting work environment. Our goal is to create a safe space, while focusing on our strengths, common goals, and solutions. As we strive for positive leadership at EOS, it is the responsibility of all co-workers to embody this mentality and create a successful environment for their colleagues. Positive Leadership starts with management but succeeds with the support of all.

Leaders foster interpersonal relationships by facilitating positive energy and creating supportive networks among others. These networks incorporate collaboration and enhance efficiency of interactions resulting in performance advantages for individuals and the organization.

Kim Cameron, Positive Leadership, Berrett-Koehler (2008)

How we bring Positive Leadership into the company

Our Executive Leadership Team has taken part in a training program with the University of Michigan and our consultants Dr. Kim Cameron and James Mallozzi to learn about positive leadership concepts, principles and practices. We strive to use these tools in our everyday lives and incorporate positive change into our workplace.

To bring the concept to life, we have trained 50 so-called Positive Energizers who act as trainers and bring the new practices into their departments and teams.  They are putting extra effort into this movement – providing their time and energy for EOS to become a more successful, safe space. The goal now is to initiate change with small alterations in our daily work; make small changes and see what impact they can have. Together, the Positive Energizers identify practices and tools that can help us apply these concepts for a positive change. By doing so, they give the entire organization the energy that we need to overcome challenges and move forward.

The next step will be to link our Strategic Initiatives with our positive leadership goals as a foundation to increase our overall business performance.