HOW POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY HELPS LEADERS CREATE INCLUSIVE, BETTER‐PERFORMING ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

AbstractThe author relates her experience applying the tenets of positive psychology to a manufacturing environment and explains how leaders in any sector can apply positive psychology for organizational success. Using this “in conjunction with lean manufacturing, a discipline based on creating value at the rate of customer demand built on the foundation of respect for the employees, resulted in multiple factories achieving significantly higher levels of operational performance. These factories were part of a $75 million division of a $12 billion diversified industrial publicly traded company that operates in fifty countries.” She relates the history of positive psychology, especially how “University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman started a revolution, assembling researchers and psychology practitioners to work on the science of building well‐being.” She also explains the basics of the psychological concept associated with the late Stanford University professor Albert Bandura, self‐efficacy. She writes that “a leader’s self‐efficacy and the ability to create an environment where each workforce member can contribute to the business through their personal sense of self‐efficacy are critical ingredients in developing inclusive cultures.” Another important concept is optimism: “Leaders striving to create an inclusive culture for all the right reasons, including enhanced business performance, will benefit from optimism, a cornerstone of positive psychology.”