For years we have been encouraged to embrace positive thinking - "dream big", "be positive", "live your dreams" - these are all familiar to us. The message is that if we dream and keep hopeful, that very positivity and focus will help us to achieve those dreams. 

In contrast we are also encouraged not to be negative or to point out challenges or possible pitfalls as this will be demotivating and will make it harder for us to succeed. Those who dispute this approach are sometimes described as being slightly Eeyore-like characters who are simply being pessimistic. But it would seem that they may be on the right track!

Looking at the studies of positive thinking over a couple of decades psychologists have noticed that dreamers are often not great 'do-ers'. Dreaming about a desired future can actually be so satisfying and soothing for people that they fulfil their wishes virtually. In the process this drains the energy needed to make the effort to achieve their dreams in the real world. As a consequence, they are often even more frustrated and less satisfied, which can then lead to more fantasising, and so on.

A better approach is to actively visualise the obstacles or challenges you might face in achieving your dream or goal. The process of doing this can make it more achievable. By continuing to fantasise whilst also thinking about the potential obstacles, prepares us better to face our fears, develop better strategies for challenges, make plans and take action. Using 'mental contrasting' in this way is a more effective approach to turning dreams and goals into reality.

For further details see the work of psychologist Gabriele Oettingen and her WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) technique - www.woopmylife.org

​We've been running our Employee Feedback Culture Survey for some time to help us gauge trends and needs. Over time, we have seen a general uplift both in capability and willingness to give and receive feedback at work. Our latest review supports these general trends but still reveals some difficulties.

For example, 40% of respondents disagreed with the statement "in my company we celebrate success and recognise people's achievements", with a further 13% neither agreeing or disagreeing. (On the positive side, just under half of those surveyed agreed with the statement).

The survey also found:

• 40% said that giving and receiving feedback was not valued, widely practiced or done well in their organisation
• 43% don't feel that they or their contribution is valued

The researchers found that employees actively employing their signature strengths at work build their own positive attitude and engagement with work. They have found that personality type does affect the impact of using personal strengths. For example, those who measure high in Extraversion and low in Neuroticism experience greater benefit from daily strengths use. 
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What about those people who are high in Neuroticism? Their findings suggest that people who are impulsive and more prone to stress (and who may experience feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration, and depression more regularly) derive little benefit from strengths use without additional support. Given that the use of strengths does have beneficial impact, the authors suggest that these people may require additional personal and/or environmental support to facilitate their use. 

This study provides further confirmation that the use of strengths is an important predictor of positive affect which is particularly important in working environments that require learning and creativity.

The authors conclude that "organisations and managers should facilitate employee strengths use, because when employees employ these strengths they are more dedicated and energised at work".

One of the principal benefits of coaching programmes is the provision of space and time for the coachee in which to learn and reflect. This can be particularly valuable during periods of change.

There is strong evidence that executive coaching is valuable in helping people deal with the uncertainty and challenges of change - whether organisational change, career change, life transitions, etc. Such change is the "new normal" and there is a growing expectation that people should possess the flexibility and resilience to cope with such change. For this reason, enhancing resilience and well-being in organisations is increasingly important.   ​

A couple of weeks ago during a busy coaching week I met with a number of new as well as existing clients. I was struck by the fact that a significant proportion of them had recently experienced extremely difficult life events or were in the process of doing so. They variously described experiencing a miscarriage, the loss of a parent, diagnosis of a seriously debilitating illness, discovering that their teenager was self-harming, the death of a child, a partner's infidelity. Hearing about these events in such quick succession and in a short space of time was striking. It brought home to me just how commonplace these very difficult, often tragic, life events are. 

This is the kind of stuff that we deal with throughout our lives. If we are lucky, we  may escape many of them but most of us will certainly experience "bad stuff" at some time or other. What was striking to me was that all of these people were quietly struggling with these events whilst trying to keep everything else going - including work.

In our development work with leaders and teams we emphasise the importance of creating positive, energising working environments. We say that this is essential in order to facilitate the best performance from ourselves, and for our colleagues and teams.

We're also aware that this can just sound like the latest management 'blah blah' speak! So, is this really important and what is it about?

As the conditions in which we work become more pressurised and stressful, so our performance tends to decrease at a corresponding rate. When we work in positive, energising environments, our performance increases accordingly. What is going on?

Simply put, stressful conditions cause us to feel anxious - levels of stress hormones (particularly cortisol) increase and the short term effect on the brain is to negatively affect our cognitive thinking ability. Our ability to process information, make decisions and to make judgments is impaired (when we are highly stressed our IQ is said to temporarily decrease around 10 points which is quite a drop when you consider that the average IQ is always 100). In the longer term, sustained exposure to high cortisol levels is associated with heart disease, stomach ulcers, and increased abdominal fat, among others. So, conditions of negative stress are not good for us in terms of well-being, are linked to poor performance, and are not a particularly satisfying or rewarding way of working either. We are simply not at our best when under these conditions.

When we are at our best however our brains are influenced by (and influencing) different conditions. When levels of hormones such as seratonin and dopamine rise they help to reduce cortisol levels and are also associated with an increase in critical thinking capacity, decision making and judgment, and creativity. The ease and speed with which 'information' flows around our neural pathways is optimised This is when we do our best work. Associated with this are lower stress levels, lower rates of heart disease, quicker recovery from illness, increased confidence and greater happiness. [See Shaun Achor's TEDTalk about the "Happiness Advantage]

Let's make it easy...So the question for leadership teams is, how do we create these positive conditions in which we and our teams may flourish?

This is where the strengths approach comes in. Evidence shows that using our strengths more and focusing on our weaknesses less, helps to create those optimal brain conditions. People who use their strengths more:

• are happier and more confident
• have higher levels of energy and vitality
• experience less stress and are more resilient
• perform better at work and are more engaged

Our strengths-based team work starts with an assessment of individual and collective strengths with follow-up feedback to ensure understanding and awareness. We then coach and facilitate individuals and teams in strategies and actions to harness their strengths to maximum advantage whilst at the same time minimising the impact of weaknesses. Our experience in this work repeatedly confirms the performance benefits of creating optimistic, energised, positive working environments and doing away with negative, highly-critical and even hostile working conditions. And, by the way, this does much to enhance job satisfaction and happiness too...

​We believe that life can be complicated enough. Let's make our work performance, and the personal fulfilment that results, as easy as it can be.