5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times

Studies of organizations that have achieved unexpected and exceptional levels of success, in spite of the difficult economic situations they face, reveal a common denominator: They have adopted strategies based on positive organizational leadership competencies. This is an emerging field that focuses on "positively deviant" organizational performance -- in other words, successful performance that dramatically exceeds the norm in a positive direction. Positive competencies involve more than putting a happy face on disaster. They are life-giving attributes that can be learned, developed and improved, regardless of your personality. The author, a foremost scholar in the field, draws on two decades of his research to suggest five positive leadership practices that can serve as keys to flourishing and highly successful outcomes -- even among organizations that are downsizing, facing bankruptcy, experiencing loss of mission or encountering fiscal disasters. He shows how to detox your workplace and spread the light.