Kim Cameron
on the Heliotropic Effect and Positively Energizing Leadership
What makes light so magnetic, so irresistible?
Why do we flourish in the presence of positive, life-giving energy?
And who is the person who comes to mind first when hearing the expression “the one who lights up the room?”
Kim Cameron’s inner sensing and his extended research discovered the answer: it’s "the Heliotropic Effect."
Every living system, from single-cell organisms to human beings, is inclined toward light, toward that which enhances life. Like the everlasting love story between the irresistible Helios and the sunflower: https://lnkd.in/gBzA-VbC
Kim is a world-renowned scholar, speaker and author known for his work on positive leadership and virtuousness. He serves as the William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business and is a co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan. He became interested in “positive organizational scholarship” after studying the consequences of downsizing and discovering that “positive deviance” is a performance booster, all thanks to “Positive Energizers”.
Several kinds of energy exist - physical, emotional, mental - which diminish when used, but Kim believes the only energy that elevates with use is “positive relational energy”. We never get exhausted around people we’re in loving, supportive relationships with. Positive energizers create and support vitality, they uplift and encourage us. Such interactions leave us feeling buoyant, inspired, and motivated. In contrast, negative energizers “deplete the good feelings and enthusiasm, leaving us exhausted and diminished.”
In his book, “Positively Energizing Leadership”, Kim reflects: “We need more affirmative dynamics in business: an orientation toward strengths rather than weaknesses; toward abundance rather than deficits.” Leaders who bring to light virtuousness and eudemonism and celebrate the triumph of the human spirit: “Actions that inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more!”
Virtuousness is its own reward. Kim believes the irony regarding virtuous actions - kindness, generosity, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, courage, trust - is that, whereas they produce extraordinarily successful outcomes, they don’t need to in order to be valuable. A kind reminder for all of us to act genuinely, authentically, from a values-based place.
Enhance the vitality in others and be a source of thriving! Read Kim Cameron’s answers for Inspirators and shine bright! Or, as Harry Cohen says, “Be the sun, not the salt. Leave people with an afterglow, not an aftertaste.”
Thank you, Kim, for being a Heliotropic Leader!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Kim Cameron
Company / Institution: University of Michigan
Title: William Russell Kelley Professor Emeritus
Website: www.kimscameron.com
LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/kim-cameron-01b0a811/ ; team@kimscameron.com
Country of origin: USA
Country you currently live in: USA
Your definition of Regeneration: Reaching the best of the human condition after falling short.
Main business challenge you face: Helping organizations of all types implement positive leadership practices and create a virtuous culture of abundance.
Main driver that keeps you going: Helping individuals and organizations flourish beyond what is expected.
The trait you most value in others: Kindness and authenticity.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: 7 children and 25 grandchildren along with opportunities to help organizations and individuals achieve positive deviance.
The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
Reed Bradford
Robert Quinn
David Whetten
A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Reach clarity regarding purpose and begin with 1% improvements.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: Be a contributor to the well-being of someone or something. Contribution goals always exceed achievement goals in producing happiness, well-being, and performance.
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Positively Energizing Leadership by Kim Cameron
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: Gandhi.
Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: Sic et Non; TED.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: South Africa, Namibia, China, India.
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: Positive Organizational Scholarship.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: There is fundamental goodness as well as innovativeness in human beings - people inherently tend toward the positive and, almost always, successfully address the challenges being faced.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: The world is filled with much too much anger, cynicism, contention, hostility, and divisiveness, which are self-destructive. We’re in a time when such negative trends are escalating.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today:
Virtuousness, including compassion, gratitude, humility, trust, forgiveness, and love.
The quote that inspires you:
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a positive energizing leader.”
(Would that all leaders were positive energizing.)
Your quote that will inspire us:
