In what I view as the culmination of all his books Jon Gordon puts all the pieces of the puzzle together in The Power of Positive Leadership. In the fall of 2014 Oregon Women’s Basketball head coach Kelly Graves mentioned a few things to me from the book The Energy Bus that he was using for his team and suggested I read it and also Soup.  Coach Graves also gave me a few bits of advice for changing cultures.

·      Practice daily reinforcement
·      Show Appreciation
·      Share your beliefs
·      Practice showing thankfulness, especially for the  little things.
·      Last but certainly not least, Don’t Wavier, be  consistent!

I read & reread The Energy Bus and Soup and for the last three years I have been reading every Jon Gordon book I could get my hands on, trying to extract every nugget I could.

The Power of Positive Leadership digs in from the ideas given in Jon’s books and gives practical ideas and examples as used by successful leaders throughout the spectrum of business and sports. I am a firm believer that no matter if you are coaching a team, or managing a team in the work place that the fundamentals for being a success are the same.

“Culture is not just one thing; it’s everything” This is one thing that I see that is mentioned a lot by writers and consultants, but somehow there is a disconnect in actual businesses. Even in the industry I work in I see managers who do not place emphasis on building and fostering a positive culture of their business, but yet want all the positives that with that culture.

Working in a small business I believe it is imperative to develop of positive culture, and to foster that culture everyday. Small companies can’t always provide the big salaries and all the benefits that big companies can, so we must do better in the little things than other companies will, and culture is the biggest little thing we can do to compete.

No matter what your profession, or rank in that profession I recommend that you read this book. A leader is not a rank that is given; it is something that can only be earned. This book features many different concepts to drive a positive culture in your workplace or team, one than I really liked is called the “1 minute drill” which is used by Penn St Volleyball coach Russ Roe. In this exercise coach Roe calls players into his office at different times throughout the season and has one-on-one meetings. These meetings are a quick temperature check on the player’s performance, highlighting what they are doing well in and what they need to focus on moving forward. When he is done talking, the players can ask questions or get clarification. This is great way to stay in contact and keep communication flowing in your team; it is one I will be putting to work in my company.

I highly recommend this book, and have already bought it for my management team; I am looking forward to how we can make positive changes in our business.