Appreciative Leadership: Focus on What Works to Drive Winning Performance and Build a Thriving Organization (BUSINESS SKILLS AND DEVELOPMENT) - Hardcover

Whitney, Diana; Trosten-Bloom, Amanda; Rader, Kae

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071714065 ISBN 13: 9780071714068

Publisher: McGraw Hill, 2010

Synopsis

Advance Praise for Appreciative Leadership:

"A must-read for leaders at all levels who believe that both common sense and business sense require engaging and encouraging rather than mandating or manipulating. It may become my most-recommended book." -- Frank Rogers-Witte, Ph.D., Director, Executive Staff Effectiveness, Hewlett-Packard IPG

"Building on a simple but powerful idea, Appreciative Leadership offers an approach to organizational transformation applicable to institutions as varied as businesses, universities, church bodies, and health systems. Packed with dozens of stories andsuggestions, it offers key insights translated into replicable strategies for action." -- Jane McAuliffe, Ph.D., President, Bryn Mawr College

"The positive basis of power is illuminated brilliantly in this courageous leadership book. Appreciative Leadership touches the heart of leadership--the kind people most deeply desire--in a way that will change lives, businesses, and every relationship you wish to build." -- David L. Cooperrider, Ph.D., Professor of Social Entrepreneurship, Case Western Reserve University

"Leadership driven by principles and integrity is more important today than ever. Appreciative Leadership shows how to blend principles of collaboration, quality, and service for both long-term achievement and practical daily impact. It provides amodel of success for a new generation of leaders." -- R. Edward Howell, Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, University of Virginia Medical Center

The Positive Approach to Leadership That Brings Out the Best in Everyone Appreciative Inquiry has become one ofthe most popular new management tools in business today. Its premise is simple yet profound: Instead of focusing on what's wrong in the workplace, learn about and build upon what works.

Dr. Diana Whitney--a leader in the field of Appreciative Inquiry--and colleagues Amanda Trosten-Bloom and Kae Rader bring the next generation of these ideas forward, with practical and proven tools for leadership. Arefreshingly different approach to managing organizations, Appreciative Leadership turns conventional management thinking on its head, demonstrating how to get results with "positive power." All you need are the five "I's" . . .

• INQUIRY: Leading with positively powerful questions.
• ILLUMINATION: Bringing out the best in people and situations.
• INCLUSION: Engaging with others to cocreate the future.
• INSPIRATION: Awakening the creative spirit.
• INTEGRITY: Making choices for the good of the whole.

This revolutionary approach brings people together, drives companies forward--and takes your leadership skills to a whole new level.

Appreciative Leadership shows you how to fully engage your team through positive inquiry and open dialogue--so that everyone feels included and valued, inspired and motivated . . . and ready to work together to win. In this user-friendly guide, you'll discover excitingnew techniques to open up discussions, exchange ideas, agree on a plan, and follow up on your goals. You'll learn simple tips on how to keep your team on track with a can-doattitude. And you'll find satisfying new ways to be engaged, passionate, and present.

This book isn't a quick-fix solution to your management problems. It's a full-time, lifelong commitment to your values, your vision, and your connection to others. This is how the best leaders in the world bring out thebest in people, their organizations, and themselves. This is Appreciative Leadership.

About this title

About the Author

About the Authors
Diana Whitney Ph.D. is the President of Corporation for Positive Change, an international consulting firm specializing in the application of Appreciative Inquiry – the revolutionary process she helped develop and spread – to resolve the most pressing challenges of our time. In fields ranging from healthcare to education; from peace-building to business; from community development to government, Diana coaches executives and their teams in support of organization culture transformation, and strategic development. With over thirty years of experience, her clients include Merck, British Airways, Verizon, J&J, Calgary Health Region, University of Virginia Health System, Idaho Department of Education, and Sisters of Good Shepherd.

Diana is a Founder of the Taos Institute, a center for dialogue among family therapists, educators and organization consultants. She is a Fellow of the World Business Academy. She is a Distinguished Consulting Faculty at Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center where she teaches and advises PhD students. She is an expert faculty for the NCR Picker Patient Centered Care Institute. Diana was also the President of the Philadelphia Chapter of SHRM.

Dr. Whitney received her Ph.D. from Temple University (1980) in the field of Organizational Communication. Her early research into the dissemination of educational innovations funded by the National Institute of Education created an agenda for the ongoing development of educational R&D laboratories throughout the United States.

Amanda Trosten-Bloom is Managing Director for Corporation for Positive Change – the premier consulting firm using Appreciative Inquiry for transformation and innovation in business, government and nonprofits around the world. One of the first consultants to use Appreciative Inquiry for whole system change in a business setting, Amanda is also an internationally recognized Appreciative Inquiry trainer, author and speaker. Her work focuses primarily on strength-based change in the areas of culture transformation, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, leadership development, and business process improvement.

Kae Rader MPA is an associate with the Corporation for Positive Change (CPC), Kae is one of a select few from around the world licensed to facilitate CPC's Appreciative Leadership Development Program. She has more than 30 years of management and leadership and service in the nonprofit sector, Kae Rader is a dynamic facilitator and results-oriented consultant who specialize in positive, practical approaches to organizational effectiveness. Clients in her consulting practice include: U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Idaho State Board of Education and USA Diving. She speaks on the fundamentals of Appreciative Inquiry and its value to enhancing organizational effectiveness.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

APPRECIATIVE LEADERSHIP

Focus on What Works to Drive Winning Performance and Build a Thriving Organization

By Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten, #8211;Bloom, Kae Rader

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, and Kae Rader
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-171406-8

Contents

Foreword by Kenneth J. Gergen
Acknowledgments
Introduction
ONE Appreciative Leadership Now
TWO From Potential to Positive Power: The Five Core Strategies
THREE The Wisdom of Inquiry: Leading with Positively Powerful Questions
FOUR The Art of Illumination: Bringing out the Best of People and 
Situations
FIVE The Genius of Inclusion: Engaging with People to Cocreate the Future
SIX The Courage of Inspiration: Awakening the Creative Spirit
SEVEN The Path of Integrity: Making Choices for the Good of the Whole
EIGHT Making a Positive Difference with Appreciative Leadership
Conclusion
Endnotes
Contributions in Story and Spirit
Index

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Appreciative Leadership Now

The world has changed. Approaches to leadership that served well in the past donot address the challenges of the twenty-first century. Appreciative Leadershipdoes.

We have crossed a threshold to a new era: one that demands a radical shift inleadership strategies and practices. Few places on the planet are untouched bythe "progress of the industrial age" and the "dawning of the electronic age."Cities and local markets from New York to Chang Mai to Santiago to Lahore allfeature cars, computers, and cell phones. Our planet is wrapped in a web ofairplane routes, satellite orbits, and telecommunication signals.

New Approaches to Leadership for the New Global Society

This transformation from an industrial age to an electronic age brings us faceto face with the reality of our interdependence. As inhabitants of the earth, weare connected—from the air we breathe, to the water we drink, to theenergy that powers our lifestyles, to the pain, hunger, and sorrow in the eyesof children around the world. With the help of technology, we have discovered,as if for the first time, something that has always been and will always be:we are all related.

Acknowledgment of this interdependence leads us to profoundly shift what we wishfor and expect from leadership. Success in the future will go to those who helpus come into harmony, among ourselves and with the planet—to those whohelp us to thrive as one global community. President of the World BusinessAcademy Rinaldo Brutoco affirmed this when he stated, "Now more than ever, theworld business community must face the inescapable conclusion, at the core ofthe Academy's very existence: business must be willing to become responsible forthe whole of global society."

To meet this challenge, leadership now—in the twenty-firstcentury—must be aware of and respond to four trends currently defining thesocial milieu of organizations and communities:

1. New generations have come of age. Younger people expect differentthings from work, from community, and from leadership than the generations thatpreceded them. Today, people want to be engaged and heard. They want to beinvolved in the decisions that affect them and to be acknowledged for a job welldone.

2. Diversity is the norm. Organizations and communities are no longerhomogeneous. Whether local or global, small town or corporate, they are composedof people with a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, of differingages and preferences. Speaking many languages and sharing many differenthistories, people in today's organizations want leadership to be collaborativeand just.

3. Institutions are being reinvented. The context of leadership is nolonger stable or predictable. In all sectors of industry and society,institutions have failed and are being reimagined and redesigned. These newinstitutions are more fluid and more agile. In them, distributed leadership andpower emerges as people self-organize to meet the needs of the whole.

4. Holistic, sustainable approaches are essential. Today's decisionswill cast the die for generations to come. The most pressing social, economic,environmental, and political challenges of our time are global in nature. Theycannot be resolved by one person, one country, or one business. They requireunprecedented appreciation of differences and collaboration. In short, they callfor Appreciative Leadership.

What Is Appreciative Leadership?

Appreciative Leadership is a philosophy, a way of being and a set of strategiesthat give rise to practices applicable across industries, sectors, and arenas ofcollaborative action. The following definition of Appreciative Leadership isfull of potential. As you read it ask yourself, "What does this mean to me andfor the way I work?" We also suggest that you offer it up for discussion amongcolleagues and team members. Read it to them and discuss, "What does this meanfor us and for the way we work together?"

Appreciative Leadership is the relational capacity to mobilizecreative potential and turn it into positive power—to set in motionpositive ripples of confidence, energy, enthusiasm, and performance—tomake a positive difference in the world.

Embedded in this definition are four formative ideas about AppreciativeLeadership: (1) it is relational; (2) it is positive; (3) it is about turningpotential into positive power; and (4) it has rippling effects. You may alsorealize, as many others have, that each of these four ideas represents aparadigm shift : a clear movement away from the habitual, traditional, andindividualistic command and control practices of leadership toward "a newnormal": the positive, socially generative principles, strategies, and practicesof Appreciative Leadership.

Appreciative Leadership Is a Relational Capacity

All work, indeed all life, occurs in relationship. It is our experience thatwhile there are individuals called "leaders" and there are individuals thatothers perceive as leaders, nothing of worth happens without the involvement ofmany people. Professor Kenneth Gergen offers the most substantive understandingof relational capacities in his book Relational Being. In it hedescribes the paradigm shift from "individualistic" views of leadership to"relational" views, saying, "None of the qualities attributed to good leadersstands alone. Alone, one cannot be inspiring, visionary, humble, or flexible.These qualities are the achievements of a coactive process in which others'affirmation is essential. A charismatic leader is only charismatic by virtue ofothers who treat him or her in this way; remove the glitter in their eyes andthe 'charisma' turns to dust.... Leadership resides in the confluence."

We have chosen, therefore, to write about leadership: the relational processesand practices through which people come together to make things happen.Sometimes people come together as leaders and followers. Sometimes they do thisas equals, each bringing different strengths, resources, and capacities; othertimes they come together as diverse stakeholders collaborating to cocreate (orcoauthor) something like a better business model, a more environmentallyfriendly product, or a more socially and economically feasible health caresystem. No matter what the form, relationships are at the heart of leadershipand its capacity to make things happen. Imagine the confluence of relationshipsin this brief story:

Patricia Arenas, former director of Havana's Human Change Project, has traveledaround the world to culturally diverse countries, including Russia, Mexico, theUnited States, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, to study and to share her work.She has said, "It's the same on the ground here in Cuba as it is most places;it's all about the people and relationships." Curious to explore the positivecollaborative potential of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process in Cuba, sheand her colleagues invited a team of Appreciative Inquiry experts led by Dr.Diana Whitney to Cuba for research. The question was, "How might AppreciativeInquiry support the work of the Human Change Project, throughout the country,with members of community and business organizations?"

Fifty Cuban organizational consultants met with the American researchers for twodays. They explored both how and where to experiment with the AI process.Patricia commented at the time, "Building on what already works well seemshardly revolutionary, but it really is. It is a big change for people to stayfocused on and study what's working. They are so used to talking about whatneeds to be fixed." Almost a year later, the research showed that AppreciativeInquiry was being used to revamp university curriculums, to manage the cleanupof the Bay of Havana, and to build on the many strengths of Cuba's world-famouspublic health system.

The idea of leadership as a relational capacity resonates with the South Africannotion of ubuntu. From the Zulu and Xhosa languages, the wordubuntu is translated to mean, "I am because you are—I can only bea person through others." It suggests that a leader's identity, indeed anyone'sidentity, rests at the center of relatedness. Appreciative leaders "are" becauseof the people with whom they work and serve. Firefighters know this perhapsbetter than anyone else:

Coloradans still remember the devastating wildfires of 2002 triggered by asevere drought. Federal and state agencies struggled for months to douse thefierce blazes that swept through forests and towns. Volunteer fire departmentsmade up of families, friends, and neighbors in the small mountain communitiessimply didn't have the fire protective clothing or equipment to adequately fightoff a threat of this magnitude. Seeing this, a charitable foundation quicklysent representatives on site with checks in hand to offer support. Foundationrepresentatives weren't prepared for the reaction they received. Rather thanaccepting the full amount, many fire chiefs accepted only a portion of thefunding and asked that the remaining funds be given to neighboring firedepartments also in need.

Relational capacity does not mean, as is so frequently taught, that you musttherefore go out and "make relationships," as if they don't already exist, inorder to work or to live well. Instead, it means that you must acceptrelationships as always present, as here from the beginning, as surrounding us,and as infusing us with their presence. Your Appreciative Leadership task isthen to become relationally aware, to tune into patterns of relationship andcollaboration—that is, to see, hear, sense, and affirm what is alreadyhappening in order to best relate to it and perform with it.

We experienced a deeply moving example of this a number of years ago, at a TaosInstitute conference in Belgium. The "polyphonic" singing group CapellaPratensis performed Gregorian chants in a historic chapel. We were enchanted bythe group's music and later by their description of their process: They arriveearly to the space where they will perform. They listen to the sounds alreadypresent, and when they sing, they sing into and in relation to the sounds of thespace. At that moment we could not imagine a more beautiful sound or a morerelational process.

The relational capacity of Appreciative Leadership, to tune into positiverelational patterns—what we call the positive core of any personor group—and to work with them, is a starting point for all positivechange. It is especially relevant in organizations and communities when theconfiguration of relationships need to change— for example, when a newmember joins a team, a department gets a new head, two units or organizationsmerge, or when a new project is launched. In all cases, Appreciative Leadershipis implicitly and explicitly relational, living and working with awareness ofand care for the group's impact upon other people, all living beings, and theearth.

Appreciative Leadership Is a Positive Worldview

In the closing chapter of their book Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of theBeholder, consultants Marge Schiller, Bea Mah Holland, and Deanna Rileydescribe Appreciative Leadership as a "worldview." Indeed, it is aworldview—that is, it is a set of beliefs and a way of seeing the world,people, and situations—that is uniquely and, by choice, positive and lifeaffirming. And as such, this positive world-view informs all that isAppreciative Leadership: its identity, strategies, practices, and results.

Appreciative leaders hold each and every person in positive regard. They lookthrough appreciative eyes to see the best of people. They seek to treat allindividuals positively, with respect and dignity, no matter their age, gender,race, religion, or culture—even education or experience. They believe thateveryone has positive potential—a positive core of strengths and apassionate calling to be fulfilled—and they seek to bring that forward andnurture it. Take Mary Beth's story as an example. Having contributed positivelyto her organization for nearly 10 years as the manager of human resources, sheapproached her boss asking to move into the operations side of the business.Together, she and her boss negotiated a plan: she would attend a few outsideclasses and workshops to obtain some crucial skills she was missing, and theboss would find a new place for her in the organization, where she could learnand grow with support. Within a year, the transfer was achieved. Nearly a decadelater, she serves as a senior operations leader in one of the company's largestand most profitable business units.

Appreciative leaders see the glass as half full. They look for and are able toconsistently see the inherent positive potential in any situation, no matter howdire it may seem. They understand the value of positive images to inspire andgive hope. They share stories of success and offer images of possibility so thatothers have a positive path forward. Rather than talking about what cannothappen, what the problem is, or why things won't work, they talk about what isneeded, what is possible, and what will be done. Their positive worldview oftentakes form as a can-do attitude.

On the heels of a narrow loss in the New Hampshire primary election of 2008,soon-to-be-president Barack Obama demonstrated this positive worldview in whatwas described by some as one of the most inspiring concession speeches everdelivered:

For most of this campaign, we were far behind. We always knew our climb would besteep. But in record numbers, you came out, and you spoke up for change. Andwith your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment, in thiselection, there is something happening in America.... We are ready to take thiscountry in a fundamentally new direction.

We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter whatobstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power ofmillions of voices calling for change....

We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned againstoffering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that isAmerica, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faceddown impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn'ttry or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simplecreed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, wecan.

Appreciative leaders are affirmative by choice. They use positive approaches toget positive results. A central measure of success is, "Contribute good to theday." What this means is that at the end of the day, appreciative leaders candescribe what they did that day to add value to others, to bring out the best ofpeople or situations, and/or to set positive ripples in motion.

Appreciative Leadership Turns Potential into Positive Power

Appreciative Leadership is more than a worldview. It is a way of being—aset of strategies and related practices—that makes things happen and getsresults. Appreciative Leadership assumes that each person has a positive core,an implicit source of goodness and positive potential awaiting discovery,recognition, and realization. Appreciative Leadership senses potential and turnsit into positive power—that is, into life-affirming results. Trusting thatwith few exceptions, each person has the capacity to make a meaningfulcontribution, appreciative leaders see it as their job to draw out and nurturepotential and to ensure conditions for its success. In so doing, they turn humanpotential into positive power.

Appreciative leaders often see potential in people and situations where othersdo not. When they do see potential, they talk about it, engage with others, andact on it. As the following story shows, appreciative leaders see potential andbring forth positive power even in situations of great distress:

After living and working in the United States for 20 years as a successfulbeautician, Zemi Yenus returned to her home of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to be withfamily. She quickly became troubled by the numbers of child prostitutes she sawon the streets and began to imagine what their lives would be like if theirouter beauty was used differently. Little by little and child by child shetransformed her home-based beauty parlor into a beauty school that has graduatedover 150 skilled beauticians.

Besides learning technical beautician skills, the students learn how to organizeand run a small business, how to work as a team, and how to use their owntransformations to give back to the community. Classes are, to a large degree,planned and organized by the former street kids. Boys and girls learn togetherto break stereotypes and gender roles. Rap sessions are held once a week, givingstudents and alumni an opportunity to celebrate learning and help each otherovercome challenges like abuse at home or temptations to make more money on thestreets. Most rap sessions also include some form of a talent show to highlightstudents' unique strengths and creativity.

Costs associated with the education program are heavily subsidized by local andinternational grants, but the longer-term plan is that the network of beautyparlors will some day be able to fund the education/transformation of otherstudents and provide graduates with a strong employment path. After visiting theschool recently, an international aid worker commented, "It was incredible tosee the self-confidence of a 15-year-old girl running a meeting of 50 students.She facilitated in such a way that the boy running the meeting next week wouldknow where she left off and where he would begin. I thought to myself, 'Wow, ifwe could all work that way, what a world we would have."'

In addition to starting the NIA Foundation to help Ethiopia's street kids, Zemihas also built on her experience to start Ethiopia's only center for autisticchildren.

With the support of Appreciative Leadership, many people outgrow the limits oftheir realities and move into a larger more appreciative world—like lotusflowers growing from the mud. Professor David Cooperrider has suggested thatthis happens through inquiry. He has written, "The appreciative leader enlargeseveryone's knowledge and vision of the appreciable world—all thestrengths, capacities, and potentials—not by having solid answers but withexpansive questions. It is precisely through inquiry itself that appreciativeleaders realize and unleash not their own but other people's genius." Indeed, byengaging with people in communication, inquiry, and collaboration, you canunleash potential, generate performance, and ensure the creation of worthyresults.

(Continues...)

(Continues...)

Excerpted from APPRECIATIVE LEADERSHIP by Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten, *NULL* #8211;Bloom, Kae Rader. Copyright © 2010 by Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, and Kae Rader. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071714065
• ISBN 13: 9780071714068
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256