The ground-breaking revelations coming from brain science and neuroscience are emphasizing the impact of human energy on, not only organizational culture, but also on the health and productivity of our workforce. These findings cannot be ignore, and in fact, in today’s complex, ambiguous and organic organizational systems these revelations are more important than any other time in modern history. The studies show that positive human energy is necessary for achieving peak performance, for building and maintaining good relationships, and for experiencing good health.
What’s interesting too from the research, is the evidence suggesting that negative human energy (negative thoughts and feelings) tends to be more ‘human’ than the positive. In other words, we must consciously work at being positive. Dr. Rick Hanson explains our tendency to the negative in his book “Hardwiring Happiness”. He explains that as cavemen, to ensure survival, our brain evolved a negativity bias, “making it like Velcro for bad experiences but Teflon for good ones.”
Pair that with the fact that In today’s work environment, where we spend the major part of our life, there is ample opportunity for the emergence of negative thoughts and feelings. Over the last few decades workforces have felt the effects of being connected 24/7, worsened by the need to do more for (and with) less, particularly in public service industries. We are living in a time ripe for negativity to take hold and grow within even the most engaged workforce. It is the role of leadership to successfully navigate these times and develop a workforce that is agile and resilient, and a work environment that is energizing to work in.
The good news is that the field of neuroscience is providing us with some ground breaking insights – and the key lies in the mind and body of our workforce. The short of the story is that from the time we are born until the day we die, each and every one of us has the potential to learn and practice the skills necessary to develop a positive and energized mind. At the ground level of the workplace, we need an understanding of the connection between human energy and human behaviour and how to enhance existing technical and professional expertise. Leadership’s role therefore will be to ensure every employee has the opportunity and the desire to develop these skills.
Those organizations that put a planned systematic approach in place to train and develop mid-level and front line workers, and their managers and leaders in the skill of “Positive Presence™” will be the organizations that are on their way to creating sustainable engagement and ultimately reap the performance results that are indicated to be as much as three times higher than those organizations with high traditional engagement. At the organizational level, the coming change is cultural in nature and must be supported and influenced by upper management. But the change itself begins in the hearts and minds of our workers – one person at a time – one department at a time – until it diffuses and flows throughout an entire organization.
CORPORATE HARMONY is grateful to Dr. Michael E. Frisina for his contributions to this entry.
Catherine is the President and CEO of CORPORATE HARMONY, providing virtual solutions for leadership development and organizational culture change. Her leadership and coaching experience as a Project Manager in an ever-changing, fast moving technological organization with unrelenting demands drove her to the realization that a positive mindset and strength-building behaviors are essential for today’s complex and chaotic organizational systems. CORPORATE HARMONY’s virtual platform of programs, coaching and performance measurement, is an innovative online technology of tested proprietary content. The world-class content of CORPORATE HARMONY’s Positive Presence Program develops the skill of ‘Positive Presence’ and the necessary ‘Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies’ for maintaining a positive and energized mindset and increased performance in today’s complex work environment, and leading to a culture of collaboration and connection. Catherine’s vision for Corporate Harmony is to bring the skill of “Positive Presence” to the corporate world as it becomes more complex, ambiguous and chaotic. Catherine is uniquely positioned to impact organizations’ productivity and long term success, with her powerful vision of eliminating bad stress from every workplace around the globe, bringing purpose into the people equation to promote healthy, productive and meaningful work cultures and turn the tide on the neglect of mental health on a global scale. Catherine is author of the book: “CORPORATE HARMONY – The Performance Link for Today’s Modern Organization” Catherine can be reached at: Catherine.Osborne@corporateharmony.ca or go to ‘contact us’ on our website www.corporateharmony.ca. Catherine is available for consultation, and can be reached by 519-695-3407.