Positivity - Part 2

The pandemic has plagued us with endless uncertainty for longer than we could have ever imagined. We've managed to maintain our resilience in spite of a cascade of global conflicts, soaring prices, jittery markets, and workplace woes. But the news over the past couple of weeks has gone from just plain negative to downright heartbreaking.

So I'm devoting the Adaptiv Resilience At Work Newsletter this month to a sampling of Positivity content from our collaborative online and hybrid resilience training programs. This edition focuses on embracing our positive icebergs and using them to empower us as individuals and as leaders. The last edition looked at the power of positive emotion and how to start experiencing it more fully and more often.

I hope this provides a bit of relief and adds some fuel to your resilience tank.

Embracing Our Positive Icebergs

In our Resilience At Work Newsletter No. 15, we took a close look at Problem Icebergs - deep-seated beliefs that we learned as children and that have more downsides than upsides for us as adults. Learning to navigate around them builds resilience.

Positive Icebergs are big beliefs that have more upsides than downsides. I borrowed this video from our Adaptiv Digital Training program to introduce you to the concept:

How To Tap Into Our Positive Icebergs

Tapping into our positive icebergs can have a huge impact on our productivity, our performance, and our resilience. Let's take a look at two exercises - one for individuals and one for leaders - that provide an excellent first step into aligning our core principles and values with our daily activities.

For Individuals - Create A Personal Workplace Philosophy

Building awareness of the values that drive us, and seeking alignment between them and the values of the organizations of which we are a part, can boost our resilience, our effectiveness and even our happiness. One of the best ways to start is to create a personal workplace philosophy. It's a simple statement of how you conduct yourself from the moment you walk in the door until you close your laptop at the end of the day. Here's mine:

I approach every day with passion and purpose. In my team activities, I strive to be collaborative and supportive of my peers’ interests. I seek opportunities to mentor and to lead by example. I start by assuming that I can handle any challenge that comes my way and then look for counter-evidence. When I’ve done everything I can to move the ball forward, I try to err on the side of optimism.

To create your own Personal Workplace Philosophy, follow these steps:

• What would you say are your key workplace principles and values? What are some of the core values by which you live your work life? These are your Positive Icebergs. Write them down.
• Create a draft statement that embodies and reflects your positive icebergs. Expect this to be hard.
• Share your draft with a few trusted advisors. It may take you a few drafts to get it right.
• Review your Workplace Philosophy every day to help keep your day-to-day behaviors aligned with your key workplace principles and values.

For Leaders - Create A Leadership Philosophy

The leadership philosophy concept was introduced and proven at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. We've been using it for years as an effective step on the path to creating resilient leaders. The leadership philosophy is a concise statement of who you are as a leader, that you can freely share with your people so they know what you expect of them - and what they should expect from you.?Here is a sample created by a Chief Nurse Officer who attended an Adaptiv resilience training program. They framed it and hung it in their office for all to see.:

To create your own leadership philosophy, follow these steps:

1. List your core leadership principles including things like your personal values, operating principles, non-negotiables and priorities.
2. Write your first draft. Try to embody all of the values and principles that you listed in Step 1. Use the format in the picture above to organize it.
3. Consider reviewing your draft with a trusted advisor, mentor, peer.
4. Finalize and publish it. Share it with your people. Engage them in a dialogue about it.
5. Live it! Practice what you wrote and be consistent.

As I often say, expect this process to be hard. But expect the finished product and practice to be rewarding. If you develop something that you'd like to share, please post it in a comment to this article. I and our readers will appreciate it!

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