Author and Professor Kim S. Cameron to be Featured on Close Up Radio

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES, July 19, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Author of sixteen scholarly books, Kim Cameron’s latest release is Positively Energizing Leadership. “The purpose of the book is to highlight three points. The first is to make the empirical case that all human beings flourish and thrive in the presence of positive energy. The second point is that when a leader demonstrates positively energizing practices, the organization’s overall performance goes up markedly—that is, profitability, productivity, quality, and so forth. Positively energizing practices are simply behaviors we all know: kindness, gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness which are embedded in the organization’s culture. The third point of the book is to explain and illustrate the effectiveness of the behaviors that characterize positively energizing behaviors," explains Cameron.

“The major criticism of positive leadership is that being held accountable for profitability, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction cannot simply be managed with just a smile or thinking happy thoughts. Leaders are responsible for bottom-line results. Empirical evidence shows, however, that when leaders implement positively energizing practices, when positive behaviors are embedded in the culture of an organization, profitability goes up—often dramatically.

“Several types of energy exist. One is physical energy which, when we use it, diminishes. If I were to run a marathon, I have to have recuperation time to build that energy back up. Another kind of energy is emotional energy which, similarly, diminishes with use. A third kind of energy is mental energy which also diminishes with use, as all students know at the end of exam week.

“The only kind of energy that elevates with use is called relational energy, or the energy that is exchanged between people. When I interact with someone, what happens to my energy? Am I uplifted and elevated? Is the other person life-giving (a positive energizer), or is the other person diminishing, exhausting, and someone who sucks the life out of me (a de-energizer)?” “Research confirms that positively energizing leadership—the display of positive, virtuous practices—is a major contributor to success in organizations," shares Cameron.

How can leaders be positive and appease Wall Street? “Every study so far shows that when organizations implement positive practices, when the scores on positive energizing leadership are high, those organizations make a lot more money than they would otherwise. In one case, a financial services company enjoyed about five times industry average as a result of implementing positive leadership. Other benefits exist as well, such as employee retention. In fact, the outcomes I studied include: profitability, productivity, quality, innovation, entrepreneurship (creativity), customer satisfaction/retention/loyalty, and employee retention/recruitment. All of these outcomes improved after positive practices were implemented,” explains Cameron.

While many executives are receptive to this message, some are not. “I have encountered executives who feel that they have to be a hard-nosed and tough-minded to get results—they have to be demanding and ruthless. As it turns out, however, when the organization is characterized by virtuous qualities, the financial results are always positive.

"This is because human beings are inherently attracted to and flourish in the presence of positive energy. Many studies demonstrate this. In one study, researchers engaged children from three-months old to eight-months old,. They put a child on a caregiver’s lap and had the child watch a puppet show for maybe 20 or 30 seconds. A puppet tries to walk across the stage, climb a hill, and open a box. There are two other puppets—one encourages, supports, and assists, whereas the other hinders, blocks, or inhibits the puppets movements. Then, the two puppets are put in front of the child, and the child can select whichever puppet he or she would like to play with," explains Cameron. "More than 90 percent of the time, the child selects the puppet that tries to support, encourage and assist rather than block or inhibit. That is, from the time we are three-months old, long before we learn language, long before we are socialized, human beings have an inherent tendency to prefer the positive."

This tendency can be explained by something called the heliotropic effect. "This refers to the inclination in all living systems toward the light—or toward positive, life-giving energy—and away from life-depleting energy. In nature the sun is the source of life-giving energy. Einstein referred to light as the universe’s way of distributing life-giving energy, so all living systems flourish in the presence of light and languish in the absence of light. Plants lean toward the light," explains Cameron. "Planted seeds grow toward the light. Photosynthesis occurs only in the presence of light. Similarly, a great deal of research confirms that human beings flourish in the presence of life-giving energy. Research confirms that positive, virtuous practices are life-giving and heliotropic. That’s why individuals and organizations do better when leaders demonstrate positively energizing, life-giving practices."

In addition to his work on positive leadership practices, Cameron is also the creator of the widely used Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) and the Management Skills Assessment Instrument (MSAI). These assessment tools measure organizational culture and the leadership competencies that are associated with different types of cultures. To sample these assessments, visit https://www.ocai-official.com/. Positively Energizing Leadership is available on Amazon, and Cameron is available for consulting with senior teams and leaders. For more information, please visit at https://www.kimscameron.com/.

Close Up Radio will feature Kim S. Cameron in a two-part interview with Jim Masters on Tuesday, July 23rd at 6:30 pm EST and with Doug Llewelyn on Tuesday, July 30th at 6:30 pm EST

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio

If you have any questions for our guest, please call (347) 996-3389

For more information about Kim S. Cameron, please visit https://www.kimscameron.com/

Lou Ceparano
Close Up Television & Radio
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