MAKERERE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

MASTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2016/2017 (Semester 1)

COURSE UNIT: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

TOPIC: POSITIVE LEADERSHIP; STRATEGIES FOR EXTRA ORDINARY

PERFORMANCE

FACILITATOR: DR. FRANCIS KASEKENDE, PROF. J MUNENE

COURSE CODE: HRM 7104

GROUP 7

GROUP MEMBERS

NO. NAME REGISTRATION NO. SIGNATURE

1 NAMUDDU DORCUS 2016/HD10/2927U
2 KYAMULABI SARAH 2016/HD10/2903U
3 NAMULINDWA PROSSY 2016/HD10/2929U
4 NAMUWENGE ESTELLA 2016/HD10/2930U
5 MATOVU ANDREW 2016/HD10/2909U

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..3

Background…………………………………………………………………………...3

Statement of opportunity……………………………………………………………...4

Purpose of the study…………………………………………………………………..5

Conceptual framework………………………………………………………………..6

Explanation of the model……………………………………………………………...7

Explanation of variables……………………………………………………………….7

Relationships among variables……………………………………………………….10

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….22

Case study…………………………………………………………………………….23

References…………………………………………………………………………….25

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INTRODUCTION

The paper is based on a tool” positive leadership; strategies for extra ordinary performance”

This tool focuses on how positive leadership, strategies for extra ordinary performance lead to
extraordinary performance in organizations.

This paper consists of five elements. Section one that covers the introduction, back ground to the
study, statement of opportunity, purpose of the study and the conceptual framework. Section two
discusses the variable in the conceptual frame work that is; positive climate, positive relations,
positive communication, positive meaning leading to positive leadership leading to extra
ordinary performance. Section three looks at the relations between the variables. Section four
looks at the conclusion and case study.

BACKGROUND

Knowing what elevates individuals and organizations as well as what challenges them, what’s
going wrong in addition towhat’s going right, what’s life giving and life depleting, what’s
experienced as good and objectionable, what’s extra ordinary and merely effective, what’s
inspiring as well as difficult makes an exceptional or remarkable output from employees in
organizations.Performance for example in the case in the case of Arc media faced a crisis when
the vice president of operations MUSENERO GABRIEL was forced to resign by the board of
directors and replaced him with David Chwa a relative to the CEO. Musenero Gabriel was
considered the most innovative and effective administrator, mentor and exemplary in the
company by both the employees and the clients. He motivated employees by involving them in
decision making which improved their efficiency at work thus improving performance, he
always communicated with the employees regarding both work and personal issues which made
them feel valued. He trained employees in skills they needed to climb career ladder, uplifted and
boosted employees in the organization to work effectively and efficiently, He created attainable
goals with clear expectations from employees and encouraged them to work together as a team
since the company also belonged to them. Upon his resignation, the organization was thrown into
turmoil, criticisms, backbiting permeated the system. The new management put in place failed to
successfully manage the company to the extent that the performance of the company was
deteriorating day by day and the profits reduced from 65% to 30% due to poor team work, poor

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communication, poor decision making, authoritative leadership styles and many others. This led
to the resignation of some employees and others were forced to formally appeal to the board of
directors to replace the current president of operations with MUSENERO GABRIEL. The
groups lobbying efforts were eventually successful in that the current president of operations also
resigned under too much pressure and Musenero Gabriel was reinstated.

Within the 6 months of his return, however, the financial circumstances at the company
necessitated a downsizing initiative aimed at reducing the workforce at least by 15%, which
Musenero did by eliminating some jobs for the employees who supported his return.He
apologized to those who lost the jobs, for budget cuts, and salary reductions and he was forgiven.
Musenero made a concerted effort by uplifting and boosting morale for the employees who had
lost the jobs through encouraging them with positive compliments, create social networks with
performers and that it wasn’t the end of their lives, they would even get better jobs than the ones
they had or even create their own jobs, He went ahead and paid them in spite the fact that the
month had not ended.

The employees whose jobs were retained were encouraged to engage in decision making about
how to restore the organization performance, worked in teams with positive emotions like being
optimistic that the company would get back to its normal system or even beyond. The company
institutionalized forgiveness, optimism, trust and integrity as expected behavior and these led to
the rise of the company beyond expectation in only 2 years of his return, the company’s profits
increased from 30% to 75%, and employees collectively worked hard for the success of the
company.

For organizations to continuously succeed there is need to foster compassion, forgiveness, gratitude,

building energy networks, reinforcing strengths, using supportive communication and obtaining
best self feedback

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STATEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

Organizations through management can lead employees effectively and positively to ensure
improved productivity through enabling a positive leadership which can be realized through
positive climate, positive relationships, positive communication and positive meaning.
Organizations can increase productivity through effective leadership from a lower productivity to
high productivity like the case of Arc media where company profits increased from 30 % to
75%. This is attributed to positive climate, positive relationships, positive communication and
positive meaning.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The study seeks to examine the relationship between positive climate, positive relationships,
positive communication, positive meaning, positive leadership and extra ordinary performance.

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CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK

POSITIVE
CLIMATE
a)Foster compassion
b)Foster forgiveness
c)Foster gratitude

POSITIVE
RELATIONSHIPS
a)Build energy POSITIVE EXTRAORDINARY
networks LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE
Reinforce strengths a)Thriving at work a)Extraordinary efficiency at work

b)Interpersonal b)Honoring relationships at work

POSITIVE flourishing c) Perfection in quality.
COMMUNICATION c)Virtuous
a)Obtain best self behaviors
feedback
b)Use supportive
communication

POSITIVE
MEANING
a)Build community
b)Affect human
wellbeing
c)Connect to
personal values

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EXPLANATION OF THE MODEL.

Positive climate leads to positive leadership which leads to extra ordinary performance, positive
relationships leads to positive leadership which leads to extra ordinary performance, positive
communication leads to positive leadership which leads to extra ordinary performance, positive
meaning leads to positive leadership which leads to extra ordinary performance.

As per our conceptual frame work we see how Musenero built energy networks and reinforced
strength by spending time with his employees and talked about organizational and personal
issues which motivated them and boosted their morale and this led to achieving double
productivity in their units.

We also see positive communication where Musenero encouraged those who lost their jobs when
he told them it wasn’t the end of the world for them, that they would get better jobs anywhere or
even start up their own jobs and become very successful, and encouraged them to build more
networks which would help them get new jobs.

Musenero was also forgiven for the downsizing he did, where employees lost their jobs in spite
of the fact that they called for his being reinstated as it was one of the organizational culture
practices to carryout forgiveness.

There was compassion manifested when Musenero paid employees that had lost their jobs in
spite of the fact that the month had not ended and this showed that the organization cared about
the employee’s welfare.

EXPLANATION OF VARIABLES

POSITIVE LEADERSHIP: This refers to the application of positive principles arising from
the newly emerging fields of positive organizational scholarship, positive psychology and
positive change

It’s a means of promoting outcomes such as thriving at work, interpersonal flourishing, virtuous
behavior, positive emotions and energizing networks.

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POSITIVE CLIMATE

Positive climate refers to a condition in which positive emotions predominate over negative
emotions in the work place. For example employees with optimistic attitudes and cheerful
outlooks portray a positive climate compared to those expressing stress and anxiety, Positive
climate enhances decision making, productivity, creativity, Social integration and pro –social
behavior leading to individual and organizational flourish.

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP

This refers to the relationship that generates a source of enrichment, vitality and learning for both
individuals and the organization. It implies more than people merely getting along.

A positive relationship affects physiological health, the hormonal system, Cardio vascular
system, Immune system among others. For example Oxytocin and Anabolic hormones produced
which enhance ability to handle stress, increase trust among humans and drive individuals to
seek social contact with others as well as lowering blood pressure. Positive relationship creates a
stronger self identity, accurate assessment, creativity and openness.

POSITIVE COMMUNICATION

Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and maintaining strong

working relationships at all levels of an organization.

Leaders who invest time and energy into delivering clear lines of communication will rapidly
build up levels of trust amongst employees, leading to increases in productivity, output and
morale in general. Poor communication in the workplace will inevitably lead to unmotivated
staff that may begin to question their own confidence in their abilities and inevitably in the
organization.

Leaders can achieve positive communication by, Defining clear goal and expectations, Clear
deliverance of the message, using the right medium, keeping everyone involved and listening
and showing empathy.

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Positive communication Includes Obtaining best self feedback and use of supportive
Communication
Best self-feedback is a technique used to capture positive communication which uncovers and
highlights an individual’s talents and capabilities.

To enable positive Supportive communication is another means by which leaders can be enable
positive deviance through there feedback when a negative, critical or corrective messages are to
be delivered for example correcting ones behavior, when ones performance is low and so on.
Leaders should aim at communicating in a way that build and strengthens relationship
communication in organizations, use supportive strategies, especially when critical or corrective
messages must be delivered, and provide feedback on strength, unique contributions and the best
self demonstration.

POSITIVE MEANING
When employees feel that they are engaged in a meaningful work they yield positive outcomes,
they feel important and significant positive effects are produced, reduction in stress, depression
and turnover, absenteeism, dissatisfaction and cynicism are reduced. Leaders that enable
meaningfulness in work are interested in highlighting the value associated with the organizations
outcomes which extends beyond the personal benefit of individual employees. Positive meaning
leads to three relationships between members and organization that is compliance, identification
and internationalization.
Compliance relationship produces the desired behavior through punishments and rewards, so
employees conform to the organization rules and procedures because it’s what punishment and
reward system demands.

Individual with identification relationship are motivated to maintain a more engaged relationship
with organization. They seek involvement and engagement towards organization activities, while
those with internationalization relationship have a complete and absolute adoption of the
organizational goals. They are convinced about the organizational mission, culture and mission
leading to adoption of the organization purposes and priorities.

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EXPLANATIONS OF RELATIONSHIPS AMONG VARIABLES

POSTIVE CLIMATE AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP.

HakanOzcelik, Nancy Langton, Howard Aldrich (February 2008) argue that positive climate
practices were positively related to organizational performance, revenue growth and outcome
growth.

A positive work climate has also been found to enhance decision, productivity, creativity, social
intergration, and pro-social behavours. ( Bolino, Turnley 2002) meaning that, individuals and
organizations almost always flourish when a positive climate is present.

Finkenauer, Vohs(2001), highlighted the fact that negative occurrences, bad events, and
disapproving feedback are more influential and longer lasting in individual than positive,
encouraging, and upbeat occurrences. The negative event engenders more coping behaviors,
longer lasting reactions, and more lingering memories that the comparable positive events. On
the other hand, ignoring an enjoyable or pleasant occurrence only results in regret at missing a
gratifying experience.

Positive leaders usually chose to emphasize the uplifting and flourishing side of the
organizational life, even in the face of difficulty. It’s not that they ignore the negative but they
encounter the tendency toward negativity with abundance of positivity. In the absence of such an
emphasis, negative inclinations over whelm the positive and a negative climate is a default
option (Cameroon 2008). This implies that intentional strategies are needed if leaders are to
enable positive climate in their organizations

Demonstrating compassion, forgiveness and gratitude produces a positive climate and people
experience significantly a higher performance at work when a positive climate exists. Moreover,
organizational performance tends to flourish in this kind of environment.

FOSTERING FORGIVENESS AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP.

Organizations with a forgiving culture have to experience more trusting alliances, social capital,
workplace humaneness, customer care, and a sense of calling among employees. Be it redefining
failures as learning opportunities, seeking a higher purpose that provides personal meaning for

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employees, separating acts from people, providing environments of support or honoring fairness
and equity, forgiveness allows people to heal, replenish and restore positive energy.

Forgiveness is one of the relatively few universal human virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2000).
All of the world’s major religious traditions--Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and
Judaismconsider forgiveness a virtue to which human beings should aspire (Rye, et al., 2000,
Marty, 1998, Dorff, 1998, Pargament& Rye, 1998 McCullough & Worthington, 1999). At the
same time, forgiveness is among the least understood virtues and one of the most difficult to
attain.

It is important to distinguish between a single forgiving response and the internalized attribute of
forgiveness. One can forgive a single offense without demonstrating the virtue of forgivingness
(Berry, Worthington, Parrott, O’Connor, & Wade, 2001). In individuals, this internalized
attribute is referred to as dispositional forgiveness. To clarify, a forgiving response is more likely
when three conditions exist that is the offender asks for forgiveness or expresses contrition, the
effects of the offense are not severe and the offense is unintentional (Sandage, Worthington,
Hight, and Berry, 2000; McCullough, Pargament, &Thoreson, 2000). The virtue of dispositional
forgiveness exists regardless of these external conditions, and it is demonstrated even in the
presence of severe, intentional damage and where no remorse is demonstrated. It is the attribute
of forgiveness rather than a single forgiving response that is of interest when studying
forgiveness in organizational settings (Worthington & Wade, 1999).

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Dispositional forgiveness is a stable characteristic, consistent across context and time. In
organizations, it is an institutionalized capacity and disposition. It is this inclination toward
forgiveness--rather than a single forgiving response--that is of interest in explorations of
organizational virtue. In theory, a non-virtuous organization could demonstrate forgiveness of a
single misfortune or injury (e.g., a hostile take-over attempt) by not dwelling on the past offense
and by forgiving the perpetrators (e.g., Chrysler’s forgiveness of former chairman Lee Iacocca’s
takeover attempt). On the other hand, a few organizations have developed the virtue of
forgiveness which is demonstrated more comprehensively and universally, as we will illustrate
below.
Organizational forgiveness, then, is the capacity to foster collective abandonment of justified
resentment, bitterness, and blame, and, instead, it is the adoption of positive, forward-looking
approaches in response to harm or damage. Forgiveness in organizations requires a
transformation, and an organization becomes virtuous to the extent to which it encourages.

An exemplary leader who demonstrates the virtue of forgiveness can have powerful impact of an
entire organization. Since all human beings possess the capacity to be virtuous and are inspired
by the demonstration of virtuous behavior (Fredrickson, 2000), virtuous leaders may be
especially influential when forgiveness is least likely.

Forgiving and being reconciled are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is
not patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation
exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the pain, the degradation, the truth. It could even sometimes
make things worse. .In forgiving, people are not asked to forget. On the contrary, it is important
to remember, so that we should not let such atrocities happen again. Forgiveness does not mean
condoning what has been done. It means taking what happened seriously and not minimizing it;
drawing out the sting in the memory that threatens to poison our entire existence. It involves
trying to understand the perpetrators and so have empathy, to try to stand in their shoes and
appreciate the sort of pressures and influences that might have conditioned them. . . Forgiving
means abandoning your right to pay back the perpetrator in his own coin, but it is a loss that
liberates the victim. . ..we will always need a process of forgiveness and reconciliation to deal
with those unfortunate yet all too human breaches in relationships. They are an inescapable
characteristic of the human condition." (Desmond Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness, 1999.)

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FOSTERING GRATITUDE AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP.

Research on the subject looks to examine whether expressing gratitude in the context of a work
environment can work to improve the organizational culture, employee satisfaction and,
ultimately, the level of tangible results

Frequent and sincere expressions of appreciation have been found to produce dramatic effects on
individuals and organizations. Be it encouraging employees to keep a gratitude journal to track
three things they’re grateful for each night, writing a thank you card or email to someone each
day or to positively embrace someone whenever you can by expressing your appreciation for
their hard work, gratitude requires neither big budgets nor a heavy commitment of time.

For example several years ago the CEO of LG in Japan set himself the challenge of writing five
gratitude cards expressing his appreciation and thanks to five different people in his organization
for the contributions they made, each day. More than six years later not only has he maintained
this commitment but he credits it with having changed his whole organization because it made
him look for things he wouldn’t normally see and to help people flourish who would have been
previously ignored. In every workplace and on every team, all people have the innate desire to
feel appreciated and valued by others.

Indeed, gratitude is the highest form of recognition leaders can give to those under their care. It
demonstrates our understanding of how the successes and gains our organization has made were
not simply a product of our leadership, but the result of the collective contributions made by our
employees. Employees to better understand and appreciate how their efforts have impacted their
colleagues and their team gratitude should be manifested.

Perhaps you have within your organization an employee whose natural exuberance to bring forth
new initiatives they’d like to undertake inspires other employees to push forth their own ideas.
Or maybe you have an employee whose natural people-skills make them an invaluable team
member in helping to break the ice when meeting with new clients. Although these behaviours
and actions are not a part of their job description, their efforts matter because they help to drive
your organization forward.

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Research on gratitude and appreciation demonstrates that when employees feel valued, they have
high job satisfaction, are willing to work longer hours, engage in productive relationships with
co-workers and supervisors, are motivated to do their best, and work towards achieving the
company’s goals. Google, which sits atop many best-places-to-work lists, fosters feelings of
employee value through an open culture that promotes employee input, routinely rewards and
recognizes performance, and encourages personal growth. In a recent interview, CEO Larry Page
stated, “My job as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities,
and that they feel they’re having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of
society.”

Leaders who are genuinely thankful for the talent, work ethic, and commitment of the people
they lead and make a conscious commitment to show it, have a devoted following of employees
who will always be willing and prepared to follow them into battle.

Grant AM, et al (June 2010) summarized the findings of several studies on gratitude, “Managers
who remember to say ‘thank you’ to people who work for them may find that those employees
feel motivated to work harder.” Recognition is a powerful motivator that can build employee
retention and increase productivity; however, a lack thereof can have an equally negative effect.
Results from a 2013 Gallup survey revealed only 45% of men and 50% of women are recognition
they receive at work for their accomplishments. If an employee is putting in long hours and
going beyond the call of duty to achieve company goals, but feels their extra effort is going
unnoticed by their leaders, what motivation do they have to maintain that level of work?

In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2003, the research
strongly points to a positive correlation between expressing gratitude and an individual’s state of
well-being. The authors Emmons and McCullough state, “The experience of gratitude, and the
actions stimulated by it, build and strengthen social bonds and friendships.”

Research in the areas of employee retention and employee satisfaction points to increases when
there is a strong social bond or friendship in the workplace. Therefore, this research suggests that
gratitude can work to strengthen social bonds and friendships, ultimately working to improve
employee satisfaction and retention in the workplace. Emmons and McCullough (2004) also

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suggest that “gratitude not only makes people feel good in the present, but it also increases the
likelihood that people will function optimally and feel good in the future.”

Emmons and McCullough (2004) go on to suggest that emotions such as gratitude can also
enable those who receive it to increase their levels of creative thinking, a helpful skill set within
the workplace. The authors also found that expressing gratitude to others worked to broaden the
scope of cognitive thinking and capacity as well as worked to enable individuals to cope with
adversity and stress.

Emotionally intelligent leaders use gratitude to inspire others and to help themselves. One of the
fundamental principles of leadership is that you will get the behaviours from your team that you
recognize, as well as those which you expect. Adding the ability to express gratitude to your
team as a leader will have positive impacts within your organization, for your organizational
results, and for you personally as a leader.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOSTERING COMPASSION AND POSITIVE

LEADERSHIP

Compassion is an essential yet overlooked, aspect of life in organizations. Although

organizations are frequently portrayed as sites of pain and suffering, there are also places of
healing where healing and compassion are both given and received. (Frost, Dutton, Worline and
Wilson 2000), Kahn (1993).

The practice of compassion is about going from self to others. In a way, compassion is about
going from “I” to “We.” So if switching from “I” to “We” is the most important process of
becoming an authentic leader.

Although it’s a quality enacted around us regularly, compassion is too-often seen as a somewhat
distant, altruistic ideal associated with being ‘mushy’, taking a too ‘softly-softly’ approach,
detracting from a solid outcomes focus or diluting down hard decisions when we should be
business-like, stern, stoic or even ruthless. Yet this is changing. Organizations are interested in a
more compassionate style in leading with feelings. This may be human kindness but it also
makes practical business sense. People can’t focus and do good work if they’re distracted by

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strong negative emotions. It’s at the ‘feelings’ level where many performance and productivity
problems lie. If you want people to take committed action and put in a superior performance, you
have to connect with their feelings first and connectivity is compassion in action.

Cultivating compassion also contributes to other constructive changes in how leaders lead, relate
to others, and handle the unavoidable toxicity and stress of the job. Being compassionate can
help leaders emanate less disapproval and show more genuine concern which makes them more
approachable. Reduced displays of toxic emotions like anger and anxiety, allows for a more
emotionally balanced and calm approach. Increased empathy and understanding in turn increases
the chance that staff will trust and want to connect with their leaders. Increased connectivity has
a healing effect on people and an enhancing impact on the positivity of work climates and
culture.

Emma Sepalla (2013) argues that a new field of research suggests that when organizations
promote an “ethic of compassion rather than a culture of stress, they may not only see a happier
workplace, but also an upward bottom line.”

In particular, a study by Jonathan Haidt of New York University shows that the more employees
look up to their leaders and are moved by their compassion or kindness (a state he terms
elevation), the more loyal they become to him or her. Therefore if you are more compassionate
to your employee, not only will he or she be more loyal to you, but anyone else who has
witnessed your behavior may also experience elevation and feel more devoted to you.

Consistent with this perspective, recent research has begun to describe extraordinary
organizations that display positive deviance. They represent an affirmative exception to typical
organizational behavior (Dutton et al, 2002; Quinn, 2002). Especially on the human dimension,
these organizations engender virtuousness in relationships and in the treatment of people. When
they downsize they do so with caring and compassion. When they recover from crises they do
sowith maturity, wisdom, and forgiveness. When they set strategy they intend to do good as well
as do well. They flourish, even in the face of difficulty (Weick Clifton
&Harter,Cooperrider&Sekerka).

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BUILDING ENERGY NETWORKS AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP.

Research by Baker, Cross and Wooten (2003) discovered that individuals can be identified as
“positive energizers” or “negative energizers,” and that the difference has important
implications. Positive energizers create and support vitality in others. They uplift and boost
people. Interacting with positive energizers leaves others feeling elevated and motivated.
Positive energizers have been found to be optimistic, heedful, trustworthy and unselfish.
Interacting with them builds energy in people and is an inspiring experience.

In contrast, negative energizers deplete the good feelings and enthusiasm of others. They sap
strength from and weaken people. They leave others feeling exhausted and diminished. Negative
energizers have been found to be critical, inflexible, selfish, and undependable (Baker, Cross &
Parker, 2003).

Most importantly, positive energizing is a learned behaviour. It is not a personality attribute,

inherent charisma or physical attractiveness. The correlation between positive energy and the
personality factor extraversion/introversion, for example is low and statistically insignificant
(Baker, Cross & Parker, 2003).Positive energy is not a matter of merely being gregarious or
outgoing. People learn how to become positive energizers. It is not an inherent attribute.

Positive energizers benefit their organizations not only by performing better themselves but also
by enabling others to perform better. For example, in studies of network maps in organizations
comparing people’s position in in information networks (that is who obtains information from
whom), influence networks (that is who influences whom), and positive energy networks (that is
who energizes whom) revealed that a person’s position in the energy network is far more
predictive of success than her or his position in information or influence networks (Baker, 2004).
Being a positive energizer made individuals four times more likely to succeed than being at the
centre of an information or influence network.

Leaders affect interpersonal relationships in their organizations by facilitating positive energy

both by modeling positive energy themselves and by diagnosing and building positive-energy

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networks among others. Because interacting with a positive energizer is attractive (Baker &
Dutton, 2007), positive relationships are more frequently formed. Leaders may not only radiate
positive energy themselves, but they can identify the positive energizers with whom they work
and recognize, reward and support them. Because positive energizers affect the performance of
others, positive energizers can be placed in tasks and roles that allow others to interact with
them, for example, thus enhancing the performance of a broadened field of employees. They can
be asked to coach or mentor others, and they can be selected to lead organizational change
initiatives.

REINFORCING STRENGTHS AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP.

An opportunity for leaders to promote positive relationships lies in reinforcing individual and
organizational strengths. Identifying and building on people’s strengths can produce greater
benefit than finding and correcting their weaknesses (Buckingham & Clifton, 2001; Clifton &
Harter, 2003; Seligman, 2002). Studies have shown that managers who spent more time with
their strongest performers, as compared to spending it with their weakest performers, achieved
double the productivity in their units. In organizations where workers have a chance each day to
do what they do best or to demonstrate their strengths, productivity is one and a half times
greater than in the typical organization (Clifton & Harter, 2003).

One reason for this difference in performance lies in the way that people learn. Individuals learn
more readily and more completely from positive demonstrations than from negative
demonstrations (Bruner &Goodnow, 1956). In other words telling people what not to do is less
helpful than identifying what they should do. People given negative examples (that is those told
what to fix or to avoid repeating) are much more likely to do exactly what they were told not to
do, simply because that is the picture in their minds.

An example is if someone says to you, “Do not think of a white bear,” the first thing you think of
is a white bear, a phenomenon called the “ideomotor reflex” (Bargh&Chartrand, 1999). That is,
thinking of an action makes people much more likely to engage in that action, regardless of
whether or not they were thinking about doing it beforehand. Consequently, leaders who want to
foster positive relationships emphasize strengths, small victories, and positive imagery with
organization members as opposed to errors, mistakes, or problematic behaviours.

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Leaders who enable positive deviance, therefore, emphasize successes, build on strengths, and
celebrate the positive much more than spending time correcting the negative. They begin
interactions and meetings with a celebration of what is going right. They role-model positive
energy. They provide opportunities for other positive energizers to infuse members with their
enthusiasm. They highlight positive images more than problematic images. Simply stated, they
focus on strengths and encourage others to do so as well, thereby enabling the development of
positive relationships.

In a strengths-based culture, employees have the opportunity to do what they do best every day.
Their development is grounded in what they do right, not what they do wrong. As a result,
employees look forward to going to work, achieve more while they are there and stay with their
company longer. Companies can all but eliminate active disengagement by emphasizing
strengths over weaknesses: Managers who predominantly focus on employees' strengths reduce
active disengagement to an astoundingly low 1%.

USING SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP.

Managerial communication has been shown to have a positive relationship with employee job
performance and organizational commitment (e.g., Andrews &Kacmar, 2001; Michael, 2013),
increased trust (Zeffane, Tipu, & Ryan, 2011), decreased role ambiguity (Johlke, &Duhan,
2001), and decreased turnover intentions (M.Allen, 1996; Gregson, 1990). Unlike previous
studies primarily focusing on task-related communication and employee
outcomes (Andrews &Kacmar, 2001). The present study focuses on the supportive nature of
interpersonal communication relationships between supervisors and subordinates.
Supportive communication is an outward expression of sensitivity to, and empathy for, other
individuals. For example, Supervisor Supportive Communication expresses concern for
employee needs and feelings, praising them for their job performance, encouraging them in their
work, and encouraging and providing guidance in their professional development. Thus,
Supervisor Supportive Communication may be an important dimension of supervisor support,
and may impact employee perceptions regarding the general level of supervisor supportiveness.
Supervisors may engage in supportive communication with their subordinates in a number of
ways, such as providing praise and encouragement for their job performance and work efforts;
discussing ways to increase their job satisfaction; encouraging their professional development;

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indicating concern for their feelings; actively listening to their opinions; expressing empathy and
sensitivity to theirneeds.Furthermore, supportive communication may be the most important,
direct, and immediate way that the supervisor may demonstrate support for subordinates on a
daily basis. Perceived supervisor support has been shown to relate to desirable employee
attitudes and behaviours (e.g., Rhodes &Eisenberger, 2002)
Supportive communication is very important when coaching or counseling other people.
Coaching involves any type of help such as advice and support that increase the work skills of
another. Counseling involves the form of help that benefits the listener’s attitudes. Both of these
forms of communication are very important in rewarding positive performance and correcting
behaviors or attitudes.
Skilful communication is important for department heads because they are responsible for
assessing junior faculty performance. Supportive communication is interpersonal communication
that has the goal of preserving the relationship between the department head and faculty member,
while still addressing the problem athand. Supportive communication is imperative for an
effective personal management interview program
Supportive communication is problem oriented, not person oriented. Problem oriented
communication focuses on problems and solutions as op-posed to blaming people. Problem-
oriented communication works well during the personal management interview because the
department head can focus on the faculty member’s behaviours and productivity. On the other
hand person oriented communication focuses on things that cannot be controlled and might send
a message of inadequacy to the faculty member. For example, calling a faculty member
“irresponsible” de-scribes the person whereas “we don’t see things the same way” describes the
problem. The major problem with person-oriented communication is that personality traits are
not easily changed while behaviour can be changed.

Supportive communication requires listening not one-way message delivery.

In any conversation, the person who talks the most is the one who learns the least about the other
person. “Therefore, a good department head must be a good listener.
Listening is perceived as being important to effective communication. Kramer reported that good
listening skills accounted for 40% of the variance associated with effective leadership. Indeed,

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people judged to be the most “wise” and the most sought-after for interaction are also the best
listeners.
About 80%of most people’s responses are evaluative or judging. A goal of supportive
communication is to suspend judgment and evaluation as a first response to a statement. This is
neither easy nor automatic. When people are preoccupied with meeting their own needs (for
Example I must win this discussion), have already made a prior judgment, or view the
communicator negatively, poor listening results. According to Rogers and Farson (2004), good
listening conveys that: I’m interested in you as a person, and I respect your thoughts and even if I
don’t agree with them, I know they are valid for you. I feel sure you have a contribution to make.
I think you’re worth listening to, and I want you to know I’m the kind of person you can talk to.
.
POSITIVE MEANING AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP
It’s evident that when people experience positive meaning in their work, performance is elevated
and individual well being is enhanced. Leaders enhance the meaningful of the task in the
following ways

Identifying the positive impact that the work produces on the well being of peopleis entailed in
fostering meaningfulness. The more human impact can be observed, the more work affects
individuals for the better hence individuals desire to share its effects with other people.

People also experience positive meaning through associating with the work resulting in
important personal value. Highlighting the relationship between work and sustainability,
generosity or compassion helps engender meaningfulness. Identifying a higher purpose that helps
personal benefit is almost always a prerequisite to pro-social and contributory work activities.

Building supporting relationship and a sense of community among co- workers also enhances
positive meaning. Leaders who highlight and pursue contributional goals as opposed to self
interest goals enable self goals enable important individuals and organizational outcomes such as
learning, trust, high quality connections and improved performance.

Positive meaning enables leaders to identify the long term effects of work beyond immediate
outcome and highlighting the effects that may occur hence leaving a legacy that benefits people

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beyond the immediate circumstances representing a form of unselfishness that is associated with
high levels of performance.

BUILDING THE COMMUNITY AND POSITIVE LEADERSHIP

It is quite remarkable that even when leadership is effective in the social, not corporate, context,
it has an impact on people’s professional lives. It goes without saying that the professional
progress is required for professional growth and no community can do well without financial
stability. Hence, good leaders are those that take all factors into consideration even if their role is
ostensibly limited to one niche. A positive leader will always be mindful of the fact that people
need to be achieving something in their professional capacities in order to lead the society
forward.

In conclusion therefore, leaders who enable positive deviance focus on endangering that which
is elevating and virtuous in organizations. Because this positive emphasis is contrary to natural to
the natural tendencies of most leaders, specific strategies have been identified that can foster
human flourishing and unusually high positive levels of performance. Four strategies for positive
leadership have been discussed and research associated with each has been reviewedin order to

validate the prescriptions. The four strategies have amplifying effects on one another. as
mentioned positive climates tend to foster positive relationships and communication, positive
meaning facilitate positive climate, positive communication foster positive climate and positive
relationships. It’s based on a Eudemonic assumption-that is, that an inclination exists in all
human system towards achieving the very best of human condition-so that focus is unlocking this
potential in the organization bringing outcomes that dramatically exceed common or expected
performance.

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CASE STUDY

Arc Media is a company that was started in 1992 and is located inKampala district,

The company deals in advertising, printingservices, graphics and website designing. It has over
100 employees and many other branches in the country. Arc media faced a crisis when the vice
president of operations MUSENERO GABRIEL was forced to resign by the board of directors
and replaced him with David Chwa a relative to the CEO. Musenero Gabriel was considered the
most innovative and effective administrator, mentor and exemplary in the company by both the
employees and the clients. He motivated employees by involving them in decision making
which improved their efficiency at work thus improving performance, he always communicated
with the employees regarding both work and personal issues which made them feel valued. He
trained employees in skills they needed to climb career ladder, uplifted and boosted employees in
the organization to work effectively and efficiently, He created attainable goals with clear
expectations from employees and encouraged them to work as a team together with him since the
company also belonged to them. Upon his resignation, the organization was thrown into turmoil,
criticisms, backbiting permeated the system. The new management put in place failed to
successfully manage the company to the extent that the performance of the company was
deteriorating day by day and the profits reduced from 65% to 30% due to poor team work, poor
communication, poor decision making, authoritative leadership styles and many others. This led
to the resignation of some employees and others were forced to formally appeal to the board of
directors to replace the current president of operations with MUSENERO GABRIEL. The
groups lobbying efforts were eventually successful in that the current president of operations also
resigned under too much pressure and Musenero Gabriel was reinstated.

Within the 6 months of his return, however, the financial circumstances at the company
necessitated a downsizing initiative aimed at reducing the workforce at leastby 15%, which
Musenero did by eliminating some jobs for the employees who supported his return. This led to
loss of loyalty, morale, perception of injustice, cynicism and anger. Musenero made a concerted
effort by uplifting and boosting morale for the employees who had lost the jobs through
encouraging them with positive compliments, create social networks with performers and that it
wasn’t the end of their lives, they would even get better jobs than the ones they had or even
create their own jobs, He went ahead and paid them inspite the fact that the month had not ended.

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The employees who were still in the system, were encouraged to engage in decision making
about how to restore the organization performance, he encouraged team work and positive
emotions like being optimistic that the company would get back to its normal system or even
beyond. The company institutionalized forgiveness, optimism, trust and integrity as expected
behavior. Employees reported that the personal and organizational damage done by downsizing
fellow employees, losing jobs, budget cuts were forgiven, employees released grudges,
resentment and instead an optimistic future was emphasized. With all the strategies Musenero
used, the company rose beyond expectation in only 2 years of his return, the company’s profits
increased from 30% to 75%, and employees collectively worked hard for the success of the
company.

REFERENCES

1. Ancona,d.,& Isaacs, W.(2007). Structural balance in teams.In J.E

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 Dutton &B.R.Ragins(Eds.), Exploring positive relationship at work.

2. Bagozi,R.P.(2003). Positive and negative emotions in organization. In k.cameron, J.E

Dutton, & R.E(Eds, positive organizational scholarship(pp.176-193).San
Fransisco:barrette-Koehler
3. Hhtps:// www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-frequent-open-communication-key-employee-
engagement-james-malia
4. Kim Cameron and ArranCaza (2003), Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies
5. Dorff , E.N (1998), The elements of forgiveness.
6. E.L. Worthington, Dimensions of Forgiveness. Pg 29-55
7. Dutton, Jane E.(2001) Leadership and compassion in organisations.

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