This is Our Defining Moment

If you’ve ever been to one of my workshops or executive meetings, you probably remember a demonstration I do to explain how and why emotions are contagious. If you haven’t, here’s a short explanation. Our bodies are electric. Every organ in our body produces electricity. Most of the time we don’t think about it much.…

Sharing the Wealth

As I move things around trying to find more space in the office, I’m finding a lot of notes that I took at conferences, and a lot of “Keepers”. I’m a note taker. A borderline obsessive note taker. (And while I’m confessing, I must admit, I doodle too.) As I sort through old notes, I’m…

A Thanksgiving Message from JoAnna Brandi

Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the US. As I reflect on it, my thoughts turn to all the people, places, experiences and things in my life that I am grateful for. My heart warms to remembrances of family, friends and those in my business world who have enriched my life with their love and caring.…

Positive Leadership explores and adopts the appropriate practices of "Positive Deviation". We search inside and outside a company for pockets of success - for people and places where extraordinary things are happening. We study, we analyze based on what we know about our own culture, we discuss, we experiment, and we stay open to what the new sciences are teaching us.

What Positive Leadership Is, And Isn’t

I meet a lot of new people. And that means that frequently I’m asked what I “do”. It would be wonderful if I could develop and remember an “elevator speech” that really encapsulated it; but faced with that situation in real time, I find myself saying a variety of different things. Most of the time…

Get Real

I was in Miami the other day delivering a half day workshop on Building Customer Loyalty: Sharpening Your Competitive Edge. That particular program is “required” for all first year Vistage CEO Groups in Florida. That makes sense. Customer Loyalty is foundational to success. So at the meeting, we get on the topic of Branding. One…

How You View Your Job

..is as important as how you do your job. When you enjoy coming to work, feel proud of what you do, want to make a difference in the lives of others work takes on a different meaning. This week, in honor of the upcoming Customer Service Week (or Customer Happiness Week, if you will) Oct…

This Works Like An Apple A Day

Last week, once again, I had the gift of doing a workshop retreat with CEO’s and their spouses. Some of the people attending run family businesses that have been successful for generations. Others started businesses of their own. All have medium to small size companies, so they are very much like you and I –…

Focus. Focus. Focus.

It’s a well know fact that we get what we focus on. What we focus on expands. Every leader knows that. When we look for evidence that it’s going to be a bad day, we can usually find some reason to make it so. I frequently laugh with clients who think they have nothing to…

Walt Disney, when building Disneyland in Anaheim, CA insisted that the Sleeping Beauty Castle be built first. The architects disagreed with this idea. From their point of view it was not the wisest way to build, it was impractical. The accountants disagreed with this idea too, it was expensive and an unnecessary expense. No matter. Walt wanted it built first.

What Does Your Castle Look Like?

Walt Disney, when building Disneyland in Anaheim, CA insisted that the Sleeping Beauty Castle be built first. The architects disagreed with this idea. From their point of view it was not the wisest way to build, it was impractical. The accountants disagreed with this idea too, it was expensive and an unnecessary expense.   No…

Do you ever wonder how the experience of working at your company stacks up against that of other companies in your area? Ever wonder if those great stories (or horror stories) you hear are true?

Are You Happy At Work Today?

Do you ever wonder if you feel the same way about your job as people in another company feels about theirs?   I can remember a time when the PR about the company I worked for was so good that the truth about some people’s experience there (like middle managers) was kept quietly in the…