What You Say Is What You Get®: Positive Leadership-The Power of Fathering

HI Everyone,

 What You Say Is What You Get®: Positive Leadership Power Blog from Dr. Linne Bourget, June 2018--The Power of Fathering in Leadership

Honoring Father’s day, I am reflecting on my best client executives and how “fathering” their teams made them so successful...what was it that made their employees think so highly of them?

From research for my new leadership manual on leaders’ seeing strengths, I found 

studies showing 57-90% of employees are disengaged! Scary and expensive in terms of lost productivity and commitment! 

What type of “fathering” might create more employee engagement?

One executive, a Senior Vice-President in a Fortune 100 firm, was so beloved that his executive assistant told me

that if anything ever happened to him, the place would collapse emotionally. 

One morning he cracked a joke about leaving, and for every meeting that day 

I had to deal with the rumor, as everyone was so upset.  I had to go back to him 

and recommend he set the record straight!

Usually I worked with him and his teams for a week at a time at their corporate 

headquarters, and he and I would have debriefing meetings at the end of the day. Time after time I saw people come 

from field locations, who were not his direct reports, sometimes several levels lower 

on the organization chart, to update him on what they were doing.  

This was remarkable, and I watched carefully to see why they would do this.  

Their consistent theme was telling him what they were accomplishing, 

their successes, not their complaints! What they wanted from him was 

listening and appreciation, and he was great at giving both. His appreciation 

drew them in from afar! His Appreciative Quotient®, or AQ, was very high, 

a strong factor in his success. It was no accident that he had received a 

double promotion! His organization was filled with highly engaged employees!

I was excited to see this as appreciation is the core of my Positive Leadership Systems and was the topic of my pioneering Ph.D. dissertation on the topic. But at that time consulting was all about finding out what was wrong with you and fixing you, so I was NOT popular.  Now Positive Leadership is more accepted.

v How about you? 

v How skilled are you at sincere specific appreciation?

v How high is your Appreciative Quotient®, or AQ?

v If I interviewed your teams, how high would they rate you on positive listening and giving appreciation?  

This is an essential part of fathering, at work and at home, yet often overlooked. 

To get and keep great talent, you and all leaders in your organization need to be 

highly skilled at this. So remember to appreciate what is going well, regularly!

“A leader who appreciates the best will create more of it.”

Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

I appreciate all of your positive leadership!

Peace and Prosperity,

Dr. Linne

"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect
 Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D.
www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com 
Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System 
Founder/CEO 480-767-1717 Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants 
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, 
Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive? Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom  
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series Positive Quotient PQ® Questionnaire Appreciative Quotient AQ® Questionnaire Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage Coming soon!! Power System on Intuition for Business Leaders! "The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne 
Copyright 2005-2018. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

For Positive Leaders, Three Levels of Leadership Skill--How Do You Rate?

Hi, Everyone,

Welcome to the mid-month short powerful What You Say Is What You Get®: Positive Leadership Power Newsletter from Dr. Linne Bourget, April 2018  Three Levels of Leadership Skill-What Level Are You? How Do You Rate?

Leaders come in all skill levels...how high is your skill level?

Why does this matter for your business results?

What results so leaders at different skill levels produce with their teams?

Using the dance of lead and follow as a metaphor for your business, here are three categories of leaders:

1. Champions: I dance with leaders who are national champions and have invested heavily with professionals for their leadership skills.

2. Competitors: I also dance with competitors who invest in working with professionals to build their leadership skills and are working their way up, not at the champion level. 

3. Social Dancers: I dance  with men who come to an occasional workshop or watch videos but do not invest in working with professionals to build their leadership skills, they are there socially rather than for dance (business) leadership excellence.

What impact do these leaders have on my dancing, i.e. your business results? I have extensive training from professionals, no longer compete, but do showcase performance dances and work with a national champion to keep building my skills, am an advanced dancer (business contributor).

Bottom line results of leadership skill level:

1. The champions I dance with know more moves, lead much better, have much better technique, are much better partners, try new moves they are working on with me, and collaborate superbly in improvisation.  They dance the music (respond to the external business environment) faster and more fully, are more fun to dance with, see my dance strengths and dance me at my ability.  They are all  younger and do not “dance down” due to the age difference. They see what I can do and give me challenging moves. (Strengths-based leaders get the most from their teams.)

They always make it clear where they want me, (give clear direction) and give me space to add my own moves (create room for different styles on the team). I love the fun, presence, challenges and as a result I dance (perform in business) better, follow more precisely, more creatively, more energetically, and match their style better while adding my own moves (focus more on what you as the leader want, add creative innovation in your teams). They never hurt me (they know protecting team members is crucial). I trust them with unusual moves even while my back is still recovering from the car accident. (I.e. Your teams trust you when you take business risks.) We "accomplish" much more per song (per meeting) than lower level leaders do.
“Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.” Warren G. Bennis

2. With competitors, we collaborate well, they do fun moves, and some are very talented at co-creating a dance to the music (again, responding to the business environment).  They are usually clear in direction, protective, creative, present, and leave me space to add my own moves....but not always. Some dance me at my own level, and some under-dance me due to age, assuming I can’t do some types of moves, which I can do. (Agism in business is frequent.) Sometimes they do some weird move that hurts my neck, because they don’t have the training on how to lead neck moves yet. Result:  I dance well with them but don’t give them 100% until they prove they will not hurt me, I follow carefully but again unless I can trust them consistently, I will not add as much of my own creativity if they pull me out of my move, not paying attention. In business, this means you are not getting the full ability, commitment and innovation from your teams unless you consistently show great leadership skills.  Hit or miss always misses. We often accomplish much per song (meeting), but not consistently.

3. Social Dancers: I dance less with them, as they do not invest in their leadership skills and may hurt me, under-dance me hugely, make me look awkward, not hear or dance the music, provide no challenge, lead roughly, and do not collaborate, but just expect me to follow all their moves and add nothing of my own.  Frustrating, boring and no fun! You can see how this affects your teams, they are not likely to produce great results for your business! We "accomplish" much less per song (meeting).

Which type of leader are you?
How do you rate?
How committed are you to invest in your leadership skills, to be the best leader and get the best results from your teams for your business?

Positive Paradigms Promote Profits! My clients are committed to their success and invest accordingly.

“Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.” Dr. Warren Bennis, consultant to 4 U.S. Presidents, author, 30 leadership books.

I appreciate all your positive leadership!
Peace and prosperity,
Dr. Linne "The greatest challenge is taking responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne's Power Quote
 "Build on Your Best" Systems for Leaders, Consultants and Coaches
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph.D.
www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
480-767-1717
http://www.linkedin.com/in/oldpowernewpower
Blog: http://drlinnebourget.blogspot.com/
Economist, Change/Leadership Expert
Fortune 10, 50, 100 Consultant to Executives
Pioneer, strengths-based leadership,
Founder/CEO Institute for Transformation Leaders & Consultants
Consultant, Speaker, Author: From Old Power to New Power - Which Leaders Will Survive?
Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up Live the Life You Love-Finding Personal Freedom
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Series:
The Secret Language of Great Business Results
Positive Quotient® PQ & Appreciative Quotient® AQ Questionnaires "Build on Your Best"
Copyright 2004-2018. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

HI Positive Leaders!

Fun story about an entrepreneur's strengths-based success, from Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A, M.B.A, Ph.D. , Strengths Based Leadership Trailblazer! March 2018

Got Strengths? Why Did the Entrepreneur Jump Up and Down?

As it is Spring, the time of new starts and expansion, here is a fun story from my new Strengths-Owning Manual in my What You Say Is What You Get®: Positive Leadership Series

Invited to teach an Open University class for managers and entrepreneurs, I had them list their strengths. After much moaning and groaning, which did not deter me, they had their lists completed. At the end of Week 1, I assigned homework to focus on their strengths daily! 

At the start of Week 2 “Jerry”, an entrepreneur, was jumping up and down in his chair, waving his hand in the air. He was very excited, wanting me to call on him first. 

He said, “This has been the best week at work I have ever had! Things went so well...!!” He said he had the most productive and exciting week of his life, and had gotten twice much done as usual. He had opened doors to several new customer bases and was thrilled at the possibilities at expanding his business. Plus he was having more fun than ever as his business accelerated! He was very appreciative
for this breakthrough!

“Clients are grateful to discover they are ‘greatful’.” Dr. Linne’s Power Quote

He said he never knew what focusing on his strengths would really do for him. His strengths were a secret from him! Others in the class told similar stories, especially those who actually did the homework! I could see on some faces they had not done the homework and were really regretting it, missing out on the benefits. Clearly strengths are results-friendly!

“You can only use what you know you have, and you can only get results with resources you use.”  Dr. Linne’s Power Quote

What Are Your Positive Power Takeaways?

1. It Pays to Focus on Strengths - “Jerry” saw that by being open to the positive innovative focus on strengths, and doing the work in good faith, he got great results in his business and was more excited and productive than ever. He raised his Positive Quotient®, or PQ, making friends with his strengths!

2. He saw that he had never focused on strengths because the business culture was focused on problems and weaknesses instead of strengths-based solutions. It was not that he was resisting the positive...he just never thought to focus on it!

3. He saw that by doing the homework faithfully, new business worlds opened up to him with much greater opportunity, from his expanded concept of himself! In just one week his life and business were transformed!

Got Strengths?  How Do You Rate?
 
How fully do you know your strengths?
How systematically do you and your team apply them for great results?
If I interviewed your teams, how high would they rate you as a Strengths Leader?

“I think the most important thing is to look for the best in people and get the best from them…”
 Sir Richard Branson, CEO, the Virgin companies.

Of course, this includes yourself!  Enjoy working with your strengths!  Notice the results!

I appreciate all your positive leadership!
Peace and prosperity,
Dr. Linne

Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.
"Build on Your Best" Systems for Leaders, Consultants and Coaches
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph.D.
"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect
www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/oldpowernewpower
Blog: http://drlinnebourget.blogspot.com/
Economist, Change/Leadership Expert
Fortune 10, 50, 100 Consultant to Executives
Pioneer, strengths-based leadership,
Founder/CEO Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants
Consultant, Speaker, Author: From Old Power to New Power - Which Leaders Will Survive?
Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up Live the Life You Love-Finding Personal Freedom
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Series:
The Secret Language of Great Business Results
Positive Quotient® PQ & Appreciative Quotient® AQ Questionnaires, more
 "The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne
Copyright 2005-2018. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Welcome to the short powerful What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Power Blog

for Feb. 2018, from Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A, M.B.A, Ph.D. , Appreciative Leadership Trailblazer!

How High Is Your Appreciative Quotient®, or AQ, as a Leader?

Now that we are launched into our 2018 goals, and since it is Valentine's week, it is a great time to checkon your Appreciative Leadership Power skills!

*How often do you appreciate those who work with you?

*If I interviewed them, how would they answer this question?

As I often say, giving Appreciation helps you as the giver as much as it does the receiver, for it keepsyou focused on the positive in your business and associates. 

Always be sincere and specific so you are a credible feedback giver!

Research shows that people remember the negative more than the positive, so repeating the positive helps anchor it!

 

But research also shows that positive companies are more profitable, so giving appreciation is a good investment!

In my recent showcase dance with a national champion, I learned that great leaders also need to learn how to leadnew things and need appreciation even though they are highly skilled top-notch professionals.  I thought I was the one who needed to learn as I am experienced but still an amateur, but he needed to stop and figure out how to lead a sequence we had never done before, so it was an "aha" moment, as I thought he already had it down.

Leaders need appreciation too! I appreciated him often!

President's Day is coming up...send appreciative thoughts to the President too...toughest job on the planet, especially now!

"Whatever you appreciate, appreciates."  Dr. Jean Houston

I appreciate all your positive leadership!

Peace and prosperity, and Happy Valentine's Day

Dr. Linne

Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

"Build on Your Best" Systems for Leaders, Consultants and Coaches

Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph.D.

www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com

480-767-1717

http://www.linkedin.com/in/oldpowernewpower

Blog: http://drlinnebourget.blogspot.com/

Economist, Change/Leadership Expert

Fortune 10, 50, 100 Consultant to Executives

Pioneer, strengths-based leadership,

Founder/CEO Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants

Consultant, Speaker, Author: From Old Power to New Power - Which Leaders Will Survive?

Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up Live the Life You Love-Finding Personal Freedom

Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Series:

The Secret Language of Great Business Results

Positive Quotient® PQ & Appreciative Quotient® AQ Questionnaires

The Silent Grinch CEO's Huge Loss--How High is Your Appreciative Quotient®?

The Silent Grinch CEO's Huge Loss--How High is Your Appreciative Quotient®? 

What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Power Newsletter 

from Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A, M.B.A, Ph.D.

 "Larry" the CFO had never made a bad decision in his 5 years there, but his CEO never appreciated him, so Larry left for another job. 

 

The CEO was shocked, then telling Larry, "You have never made a bad decision."  Larry said, "You could have told me that." 

 

Worse, the CEO pretended losing him was no big deal, which angered Larry's team, who respected him highly! So 5 of Larry's top finance team left, offended! 

Imagine the chaos in their financial operations and the risk of financial loss! 

Very scary!

This CEO (not my client!) was a silent Grinch...he did not criticize Larry, but his silence and lack of positive feedback were deadly. 

 

That CEO had an Appreciative Quotient®, or AQ, of ZERO plus no behavioral risk management skills!

Giving appreciation is so much better, easier and more cost effective!

This shows the financial power of appreciative leadership and the connection between the leadership heart and the bottom line. 

 

Many think appreciation has no financial impact, but research shows that more positive business cultures are more profitable!

Be sure your Appreciative Quotient®, or AQ, is high! If you are skilled, it bonds your teams together and creates better results. And it strengthens your family relationships!

“What strengthens the human spirit strengthens results.  What weakens the human spirit weakens results.” Dr. Linne’s Power Quote

Wishing you every joy for Valentine's Day and a peaceful prosperous 2018!

I appreciate all your positive leadership in your company and all the good you do in the world!

Peace and Prosperity,

Dr. Linne

"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect 
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System 
Founder/CEO 480-767-1717 Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants 
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive? Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom 
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series Positive Quotient PQ® Questionnaire Appreciative Quotient AQ® Questionnaire Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne Copyright 2005-2018. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Welcome to the mid-month short powerful What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Power Newsletter from Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A, M.B.A, Ph.D. 

November 2017 The Deepest Craving in Human Nature-How Well Do You Lead It?

What is this deepest craving? “The deepest craving in human nature is to be appreciated.” William James

This famous Harvard psychologist and philosopher was wise indeed! In my 30+ years of positive leadership work,

this has proven true 100% of the time!

Great positive leaders have great appreciation skills!

How about you? If I interviewed your employees, colleagues and customers, how appreciative would they say you are?

How high is your Appreciative Quotient®, or AQ?

 

"Larry" a CFO had never made a bad decision in his 5 years there, but his CEO never appreciated him so he left for another job. The CEO pretended losing him was no big deal, which angered Larry's team, so 5 of Larry's top finance team left, offended.  Imagine the chaos in their financial operations! Giving appreciation is so much better, easier and cost effective! That CEO had an Appreciative Quotient®, or AQ, of ZERO!

During this Thanksgiving week, be sure to extend specific verbal appreciation to those you work with, seeing and appreciating their best,

saying how they are “greatful”.

When you appreciate their strengths they are more likely to use them more. (Only give appreciation sincerely, not to get more from people.)

“Whatever you appreciate, appreciates!”  Dr. Jean Houston

Note: This is above and beyond going around the table and saying what you are thankful for, which is also a good thing!

What are you most grateful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I appreciate all your positive leadership in your company!

Peace and Prosperity,

Dr. Linne

Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

"Build on Your Best" Systems for Leaders, Consultants and Coaches

Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph.D.

www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com

480-767-1717

http://www.linkedin.com/in/oldpowernewpower

Blog: http://drlinnebourget.blogspot.com/

Economist, Change/Leadership Expert

Fortune 10, 50, 100 Consultant

Pioneer, strengths-based leadership,

Founder/CEO Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants

Consultant, Speaker, Author: From Old Power to New Power - Which Leaders Will Survive?

Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up Live the Life You Love-Finding Personal Freedom

Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Series:

The Secret Language of Great Business Results

Positive Quotient® PQ & Appreciative Quotient® AQ Questionnaires

Welcome to the  short powerful What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Power Newsletterfrom Dr. Linne Bourget, May 2017

Honoring Mothers and Vets, The Blended Positive Leadership Model  

For Mothers  

First, this Mother’s Day, Appreciation and Gratitude to you ladies for mothering your children, other family members, co-workers, your churches and communities and all other mothering often unrecognized...this is very important...the feminine hand is a crucial balancing and nurturing force in our world.

For Our Vets

And to our amazing Vets,  for Memorial Day, we are so grateful for your service and sacrifices...without you we would not have our freedoms or our nation!! My father, a U.S. Army Colonel, was gone for long stretches and suffered from PTS when he returned, which harmed the family, as there was no counseling...they just called it “shell shock” or “battle fatigue”, but I honor his service to our country greatly.

Blended Positive Leadership

As you know from previous newsletters, I am working on the dance of lead and follow in preparation for my showcase dance.  It is a very special blended leadership model as he leads and I follow but we are also team members collaborating in choreography.  He asks what I want, then adds to that from his expertise as a professional. He wants me to have what I want and to show me off well, and I want to show him off well too.

As this unfolds, I am not a traditional follower and he is not a traditional leader, so we are blending the two roles, leader/follower and team members.

So far we have had no confusion or conflict in combining these roles despite technical difficulties with video, music, etc.  How is this possible? We have a good foundation.

What is Our Foundation for This Blended Model? How Can We Do This?

Here are my initial thoughts...this is an ongoing learning process.

1. We have danced together for years, so know each other’s strengths.

2. From our first dance we have always danced well together...good connection.

3. We bring positive energy and commitment to our dances, via our positive values (hire people with positive values).

4. We both give positive feedback (the core of my leadership work).

5. We hear the music (external environment) similarly.

6. He leads extremely well and clearly, making challenging moves easier.

7. I follow well, having extensive training as a follower, yet being trained in “active following” as a dancer and positive collaborative teamwork, I add both to following.

8. We both have many years of experience as dancers, he as a professional, I as an amateur. (Hire people with experience.)

9. We are both creative in interpreting music choreographically (business strategy responding to the external environment).

10.We both know many dances, so have a lot of moves to choose from (experience in many business situations).

11.He sees my ability to do more than I am aware of!!(Very rare, usually I do this for clients! Feels great!)

Results to date:  Choreography and styling (marketing, PR) are coming along well, with little backtracking and re-doing. The moves are advanced moves, with just the right amount of challenge for me. We have Latin, Jazz, West Coast Swing and Hustle included in a dance lasting one minute and 45 seconds (multiple complex demanding time-pressured business requirements).

“A leader who appreciates the best will create more of it.” 

Dr. Linne’s Power Quote

Stay tuned! In future editions I will be drawing more parallels to business leadership and how to apply this blended leadership model.  Millenials expect leadership like this, so good to learn about it!

 "Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect 
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System 
Founder/CEO 480-767-1717 Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants 
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive? Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom 
 Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series Positive Quotient PQ® Questionnaire Appreciative Quotient AQ® Questionnaire Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage Power Course on Intuition for Business Leaders! 

"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne Copyright 2005-2017. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Welcome to the What You Say Is What You Get(R) Blog

From Dr. Linne Bourget for Positive Leaders--December 2016/January 2017
Before You Even Think of Setting Goals, Read This!!
Santa's 2016 Leadership Checklist--What Would He Say About You?

I was thinking about doing the usual inspirational poem for the holidays, then Santa popped in with a great idea!

Welcome to Santa's quick year in review mini-workshop for leaders, and yes, it's more than being nice!  This is Nice 2.0, or even better, Nice exponentialized!

Take time to answer these key questions...what would Santa put in your stocking? My senior executive clients review everything at year's end to make sure they are poised for greater success.

1.  How appreciative are you of those who work with you? How high is your Appreciative Quotient(R) AQ?
2.  How well do you manage and leverage your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual power in your business?
3.  How much are you stretching to learn new things and grow as a leader?
4.  How precisely do you focus on your leadership technique?
5.  How powerfully do you persist in your business?
6.  How attuned are you to the inner world or spiritual level of your business, yourself and those working with you?
7. How strongly do you use positive leadership to protect your business from the negative factors in the world? How high is your Positive Quotient(R) PQ?
8. How effectively do you delegate?  Are you burning out?  Seeing health problems?
9. How deeply do you know your own strengths?  How many can you list? Hint: You need at least 50 to succeed! (If this is hard, we can help you! I am the national pioneer in appreciative strengths-based leadership systems.)

How would you answer these questions?
What are you doing well?  Where do you need to focus for stronger leverage?

As the year winds down, your answers to these can help you plan for 2017, so please keep these in mind before planning!

I appreciate all your work and businesses and your positive leadership commitments!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne's
Power Quotes

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

Peace and prosperity,
Dr. Linne 

"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System
Founder/CEO 480-767-1717 Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive?
Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results, Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series, Positive Quotient ®PQ Questionnaire Appreciative Quotient ® AQ Questionnaire, Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage 
Copyright 2005-2017. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

What You Say Is What You Get®--The Power of Followers: "Without a worthy follower, a worthy dream vanishes."

Welcome to the What You Say Is What You Get(R) Positive Leadership Blog! 

From Dr. Linne for Positive Leaders--September 2016

The Power of Followers: "Without a worthy follower, a worthy dream vanishes." Charles Edwards.

What are the five qualities every leader must have in their followers/employees? And why?
How do your followers/employees rate?

Many client executives have anguished over employees who were just not getting the job done,  with products late to market, teams not working well, upsets and conflicts derailing progress, or just poor communication causing poor results and many needless weekends at work.

Many of my consulting projects have focused on this issue.  How about you?

* How happy are you with your employees? 
* Are they working positively, quickly and accurately, with great teamwork, responding well and quickly to changes??
* How can you hire better employees, who are dedicated to the mission of your firm?

Thinking the the power of employees to make or break your business,

* What makes a great follower?
* What are the qualities you want in those you hire?
* What are the five qualities every leader must have in their followers/employees?

Using dance as a metaphor for leading and following, I examined the parallels to leading and folowing in business.

I often get positive feedback on how well I follow, and the leaders I dance with say I make fast intricate complex moves so easy and fun for them.

Thinking about the power of great followers in business, I started analyzing what makes a good follower, a follower that leaders want to lead in dance or in business?

Here are the results of my analysis of client comments and experiences and feedback on my dancing.

1.  Great followers work at it....they are committed and intentionally pitch in and give it their all.  They don't just sit back and wait for the leader to do all the work. 

Application:  In a hiring interview, ask yourself is your job candidate interactive, or just passively answering your questions?

2.  They bring positive energy to each meeting or dance.

Application:  Great followers smile, are enthusiastic, come ready to be good and do good.
In dance, they smile and bring good energy, adding to the dance, not being passive and dragging down the energy.

How high is your Positive Quotient®, or your PQ?

3.  They pay close attention with total focus.  They are totally present in the moment.

Application:  I am watching every thing the leaders do and everything I am doing in response...their arms, their core, their leg and foot position, their speed of direction change, their lead hands and fingers, their facial expression, constantly looking for clues
about what they are doing so I can respond collaboratively and FAST.

In business, notice who is present, attentive, focused on the task, engaged, asking questions.

4.  They keep up to speed on the external environment to understand the context of the business.

Application:  Great followers keep up with their industry and company events and news and the macro-economic environment.
I do this for clients and when dancing keep a very close ear to the music, bass and top lines, moods, speed, rhythm breaks, syncopations, and lyricsso I can "dance the music" with each partner.
 
5.  They invest in their competence and skills as a top priority, always learning, growing, and getting better at what they do, valuing their own talent development, so they are good at what they do.

Application:  Leaders invest in employee development in high-impact ways, bringing in top experts with real-time applications, not just off the shelf cookie cutter basic courses, and great followers eagerly attend and apply what they learn. When I work with consulting clients, my training programs always include
real-time customized application to save clients time and money and improve results.

There is an entire literature on the Learning Organization, showing better results from better learning.

And how about you?

“He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.”  Aristotle

How good a follower are you?  Do you model good follower behavior as well as good leadership behavior for your employees? 
If I interviewed them, how would they rate you as a follower?

Remember, "Without a worthy follower, a worthy dream vanishes." Charles Edwards.
Make sure you have  worthy followers to support your worthy dreams!

I appreciate all you do to make the world a better place!

Peace and prosperity,
Dr. Linne

"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
 Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System
 Founder/CEO 480-767-1717 Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker,
Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive?
Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results
Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series Positive Quotient ® PQ Questionnaire Appreciative Quotient ® AQ Questionnaire,
Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage!! Power Course on Intuition for Business Leaders! "The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne Copyright 2005-2016. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

What You Say Is What You Get® From Dr. Linne for Positive Leaders In Negative Times

From Dr. Linne for Positive Leaders In Negative Times--What Can Leaders Do?

As an Economist, I watch interest rates which have gone negative in some countries, the labor participation rate, the REAL unemployment rate which is over 9% at least, business investment declining, a dismal GDP revised downward even more, corporations holding $2.5T overseas, and declining corporate profits.

And how sad an indicator is it that the markets are depending on the Fed instead of on the real economy growing?

Experts are claiming a small business recession and indeed this is the first recession since the 1970s when they starting keeping records that the number of small business has DECLINED during the so-called recovery instead of growing in number and leading the recovery as in all other recessions since then. Not a good sign, since small businesses provide two of every three jobs.

As an Applied Behavioral Scientist, I hear the anger and despair here in the U.S. due to poor leadership which has weakened the national spirit as well as the economy.  Fortunately in the American tradition many are speaking out about this.

Nonetheless, as a Positive Leadership pioneer, I encourage clients to keep focusing on the positive,
on their vision, strengths, accomplishments, new positive plans.  

Why would I do this in such a negative environment. This is a Herculean request!

Because only the positive can heal the negative and turn around negative situations.
More negatives cannot heal the negative, whether economic or psycho-spiritual.
Only the positive can protect us, can set the foundation for getting stronger, for
growing our economy, our companies and small businesses.  

Only systematic positive leadership can keep this ship upright in stormy weather.
Consistently driving toward your goals on a positive platform despite a negative environment
is no longer a luxury.  It is now a fundamental requirement for success.

The research I needed to support my pioneering Ph.D. dissertation on appreciation and change came out over 25 years later!! Finally!  It showed that the % of positive versus negative statements in companies correlated exactly with profits.  The more positive statements, the higher the 
profits.  The more negative statements, the lower the profits. 

Yet many leaders talk a positive game but lack the FAST, Frameworks, Attitudes, Systems,
and Tools, needed for success, rapid change and nimble response to the business.  Many 
don't know what they don't know.

How high is your Positive Quotient®?
How high is your Appreciative Quotient®?
If I interviewed your teams, how high a rating would they give you on both of these dimension?
How systematically positive is leadership in your company?
Do leaders have the FAST they need to succeed, or are they struggling with old negative
"what's wrong with you" antiquated leadership models which always fail in this fast,
demanding, shifting environment?
Let us know if you need assistance with Positive Leadership Systems...this can give you a 
huge strategic advantage in the speed of change!

I appreciate all you Positive Leaders who understand and implement systematic positive 
approaches throughout your company!

Peace and Prosperity,
Dr. Linne
"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect 
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com 
Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System 
Founder/CEO 480-767-1717 Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants 
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, 
Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive? 
Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom 
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results, Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series, Positive Quotient® Questionnaire, Appreciative Quotient® Questionnaire, Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage 
Coming soon!! Power Course on Intuition for Business Leaders! 
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne Copyright 2005-2016. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

For Positive Leaders: What You Say Is What You Get®--In a Crazier World, Get Saner! Do the Math!

Welcome, Leaders,

The external environments for your companies seems riskier and crazier every day.
More negative factors, dangers and risks seem to steal your time and your profits.
Political events, violence, weak unprotective leadership, out of control illegal unethical behavior, weak economies, and business-unfriendly policies are have reached the point of insanity.

These conditions frighten you and your employees, understandably so. Only those in
a fog of denial are not smart enough to be scared...they are choosing numbness. 

Yet you still have the responsibility to lead your company and inspire greater results.
How do you circle the wagons, how do you give your employees a greater sense of protection and possibility for greater innovation and results amid the craziness?

Starting as an Economist before becoming a Behavioral Scientist and Change Leadership expert, I fell in love with Math, head over heels, at the University of Chicago.  There was no going back...from then on, I always think mathematically. 

Thus:  Since the external environment is putting more negative factors into your company,
you need to balance this with more positive factors just to stay even, and then more positive factors to gain a net positive balance psychologically.

This is of course challenging but essential to master, a skill all leaders need to survive.  This
does not mean whitewashing issues of course, but it does mean mastering seeking, creating, standing for, and commenting on positive factors in your company, with great skill, from the heart.  Your job as leader is to make sure you and all the other leaders in your company have the skills and consistency to do this. This will be different in different firms, of course, one size does not fit all.

It is easy to get caught up in giving more attention to negative factors, but ignoring the need for positive factors to balance your firm's culture and psyche will work against you.

"When you forget the positive, you have lost control".  Dr Linne's Power Quote

To be a truly powerful leader, you need to master the positive deeply and systematically. Only this creates a real-time collaborative culture unleashing the best talent and managing risks as quickly and effectively as possible. Employees don't speak up if they are afraid of their bosses.  They speak up if their bosses see, appreciate and fully apply everyone's best.

Peace and prosperity to you all.
Dr. Linne
"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect 
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D 
www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com 
Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System 
Founder/CEO 480-767-1717 Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants 
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive? 
Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom 
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results, Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series, Positive Quotient®PQ Questionnaire Appreciative Quotient®AQ Questionnaire, Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage 
Coming soon!! Power Course on Intuition for Business Leaders! "The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne Copyright 2005-2016.
All Rights Reserved. Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.