Book Image of Profit from the Positive

Library—Profit from the Positive

Profit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your BusinessAugust 2013, McGraw-Hill EducationMargaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin set out to write a guidebook that would help people use the research findings of positive psychology. The tools they describe “don’t cost anything, and you don’t need anybody’s permission to implement them,” Margaret says.Here’s why these authors are uniquely qualified to share positivity tools: They met while earning their Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degrees at the University of Pennsylvania, and both are successful business coaches. “Every one of these tools is backed up by science,” Margaret says. Senia says people tell them, “These are really small things to implement—as soon as I’ve tried them, I can see the results.”The book is tightly organized into three parts and nine chapters. Numbered points make the chapters easy to follow. Margaret and Senia hope you take it along on an airplane ride and land ready to make changes.While the book promises to transform your business, the positive principles are tools anyone can use. Procrastinators will find the advice in “Trick Yourself into Getting Started” especially helpful—these tips help you get off dead center. For example, while they were collaborating on the book, Margaret made it a practice to write Senia an email about her progress. In her email, Margaret described as completed things she hadn’t finished, but she found it helped her begin working. (That’s tool No. 2.)Replace “bosses” with “parents,” and you have practical advice for family life. Margaret and Senia encourage a focus on the positive and an emphasis on recognizing strengths over criticizing shortfalls.The discussion guide at the back of the book, the website profitfromthepositive.com and a Facebook page encourage discussion. Senia says, “The learner mindset—the mindset of not being an expert and constantly learning—that’s something Margaret and I wear as a hat, and we really encourage.”These days, Margaret and Senia are taking their knowledge on the road. “Writing the book and researching it is the first phase,” Margaret says. “But now really getting it accessible and mainstreamed and in the hands of people, that’s the whole next phase.”
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Book Image of The Slight Edge

Library—The Slight Edge

Eighth edition, November 2013, Greenleaf Book Group PressAlready a classic, The Slight Edgeoffers a path to success via awareness of the importance of the numerous small decisions we make each day. Jeff Olson describes his philosophy as easy to do and easy not to do—and each decision we make is a step in the right direction or away from it. There is no middle ground, he says. This anniversary edition offers “The Secret of Happiness,” a chapter based on discoveries in positive psychology. The author carefully outlines what you can expect by adding steps pioneered by Shawn Achor in The Happiness Advantageto your daily routine and taking advantage of research results: “Success does not lead to happiness,” he writes. “It’s the other way around: more happiness creates more success.”Listen to Jeff Olson discuss the Slight Edge and other concepts of success and well-being on our Live Happy Now podcast, now available on iTunes.
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