PPC in the Workplace Wendy-Ann Smith

Over the past few months, you will have noticed I am sure,?snippets of introductions of the many 'Positively Deviant Scholars' and their contribution to this volume of work. I hope you have enjoyed the them.

The book launch and publication of this volume is very near and we hope you will join us. We also look forward to your thoughts of the volume in its entirety.

Below are some of my thoughts about this volume of work, each of the chapters I have contributed to, and appreciative thoughts about my co-editors and co-authors.

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Wendy-Ann Smith

Eclorev Coaching

One of my passions is to support the understanding and growth of coaching and how psychology works for best outcomes within coaching through meaningful projects such as this volume of work, research, and training with a global reach.

?I hope this volume of work helps to push the boundaries of thinking and practice of researchers, scholars and practitioners of the what and how positive psychology or rather psychology in coaching in its application in the workplace and community as a whole.??

My co-editors and co-authors have an abundance of strengths which were brought to bare during our collaboration in both the writing and editing phases of this volume of work during the most challenging of times - a pandemic.

A couple of my co-editors strengths:

Ilona: Perspective, wisdom, intelligent

Suzy: Conscientious, consistent, intelligent

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A books front matter:

Acknowlegements, Foreward, Preface and more

Often many many are wanting to get to the heart of a text, that is the chapters. Yet it can be in the various parts of the front matter where the true heart lays. I hope you do read the many areas of the front matter and find a richness that for me, encapsulates the sentiment, desire and content of this volume.

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Chapter:?Coaching with emotions and creating high quality connections in the workplace

Wendy-Ann Smith, Silvia King & Yi-Ling Lai

It is my hope this chapter highlights the silent societal epidemic “loneliness” and the importance of coaching to facilitate understanding and learning of fostering high quality connections. Additionally, how emotions can be understood and worked within coaching to support increased wellbeing and higher quality connections in the hope to alleviate loneliness in with workplace and society more broadly.

Among the many strengths of my coauthors, the following were highlighted during our collaboration.

Silvia: Appreciation of beauty and excellence

Yi-Ling: Perspective, Kindness

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Chapter:?Coaching for Positive Leadership during Disruption and Crisis

Wendy-Ann Smith, Matthew Rodda, Paul Berry & Cornelia Lucey

Awareness raising, care of self and others, emotional and cognitive flexibility and agility is the cornerstone of effective leadership. It is my hope this chapter showcases how coaching and psychology generally can help facilitate self awareness, more mindful, caring and agile leadership, even when circumstances require a command and control leadership.

?I have appreciated the various strengths of my co-authors in contributing to this chapter. Here are but a few:

Matt: Perseverance & Humility

Paul: Judgement

Cornelia: Kindness

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Chapter:?Coaching as the missing ingredient in the application and training of positive psychological science

Ofer Atad, Wendy-Ann Smith & Suzy Green?

This was a challenging chapter to bring to bear. there are many hopes.

Firstly, I hope Tony Grant is smiling and saying - "Nice Work Team - Now work on this...." the next stage. Also, that L&D programs better serve the desired outcomes by striving for a gold standard of practice. We have I hope shown how coaching and positive psychology not only has an end point of facilitating wellbeing but also sustainable personal and professional development.

I have appreciated the many collaborations in this volume of work and the various strengths of my co-authors to bring this work to its fullest outcome. However, this particular collaboration was by far the most satisfying. It was just good fun and challenging. There was lots of ongoing discussion as we wrote our way through concepts - discovering our story line. I really appreciated the openness, flexibility, discovery, conviction to the cause, and psychological safety of our collaboration. Here are but a some strengths for both of my coauthors in addition to what is already noted above.

Ofer: Fun, intelligent?

Suzy: Detailed, perspective

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Chapter:?PP Coaching in the workplace: The Business Case

Ilona Boniwell, Wendy-Ann Smith, Suzy Green

I recall our first conversation about this chapter. Given the construction of the book it didn't lend itself well to a first chapter as usual script, full of definitions etc., In the end we agreed a chapter focusing on engagement and the cost benefit of both positive psychology and coaching in the workplace was a worthy contribution. I am crazy happy to have a chapter of this kind added to this volume of work. It is but one of the new and unique additions of topics in a text such as this. I hope this chapter helps to drive a HR and leadership mindset change to more fully appreciate the importance of placing humanity alongside the bottom line in organisational decision making. It is imperative to a well functioning society to ward off ill-being, increase healthy workplace engagement and support an improved bottom line.

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Chapter:?Coaching with Compassion?

Udayan Dhar, John J. Schaffner & Wendy-Ann Smith

There are many definitions of compassion and some may argue this chapter doesn’t fit with their view or understanding. Others may say, yeah this is what all good coaches do. This is exactly what I would hope for this chapter. To inform new coaches of some of the important fundamentals of coaching and to remind and challenge those “good coaches” or as I would call them, experienced coaches of ‘client - centered’ coaching, that is ‘helping the client realise their own ambitions and desires of who they wish to be - the ideal self’ and how that in itself is a compassionate approach.

But a few of the strengths of my co-authors are:

Udayan: Humility, Appreciation of beauty and excellence & Kindness

John: Humility & Perseverance

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Chapter: Conclusion & Future Directions

Wendy-Ann Smith, Suzy Green & Ilona Boniwell

Some say 'Why bother reading the concluding chapter?!" I say please do. It is those who do not that miss out on a recap of what has past, what is still relevant, wishes for the future and the nuggets to take our work to new places in research and practice. This is I hope what this long winding conclusion does for PPC.

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What area of PP/CP/OP/OS piques your interest going forward?

• Ethics in Coaching - specifically coaching relationships
• The 'Becoming' a Coach and how coach training can best facilitate mature coaches
• How coaches can nourish themselves and their coaching with positive psychology. I would be delighted to share more about these groups - just send me an email.

Website: Eclorev

Editors: Wendy-Ann Smith, Ilona Boniwell, Suzy Green

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You can now pre-order Positive Psychology Coaching in the Workplace here or search Positive Psychology Coaching in the Workplace at your local amazon store.