Profit from the Positive audiobook cover - Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business

Profit from the Positive

Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business

Margaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin

★ 4.2 / 5(15 ratings)
Start ListeningDownload App
Categories:
Corporate CultureManagement & Leadership

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

Listen to Profit from the Positive — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from Profit from the Positive

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Profit from the Positive

Mind Map

Profit from the Positive
Boosting Productivity+
Resilience & Mistakes+
Managing Moods+
Strength-Based Leadership+
Hiring for Success+
Cultivating Employee Strengths+
Performance Previews+
Productive Meetings+
Implementation+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 10
According to psychologist Peter Gollwitz's study, what simple action significantly increases the likelihood of a task being completed on time?
  • A. Offering a financial reward for early completion.
  • B. Specifying exactly when and where the task will be completed.
  • C. Breaking the task down into five smaller sub-tasks.
  • D. Having a manager publicly announce the deadline.
Question 2 of 10
What is recommended as a simple trick to help you get started on a long, daunting to-do list?
  • A. Delegate the top three tasks to your team members.
  • B. Start with the most difficult and time-consuming task first.
  • C. Jot down a few tasks you have already completed and cross them out.
  • D. Take a 15-minute break before looking at the list.
Question 3 of 10
When analyzing a failure or setback, what does the 'Me-Always-Everything' framework encourage you to ask?
  • A. Whether you caused it, if it is a recurring issue, and if it will spill over into other areas of your life.
  • B. How you can blame others, how to avoid the situation always, and how to fix everything at once.
  • C. If you are the only one affected, if the client will always remember it, and if it ruins everything.
  • D. What your manager thinks, if the team always fails, and if the company will lose everything.
Question 4 of 10
How does an individual's status within an organization's hierarchy affect 'social contagion'?
  • A. Higher-status individuals are immune to the negative moods of their subordinates.
  • B. Lower-status employees spread their moods much faster than managers do.
  • C. Status has no measurable impact on how quickly emotions spread in a workplace.
  • D. The positive or negative mood of an office leader can spread to the team in just minutes.
Question 5 of 10
Why does the book argue that the common managerial phrase, 'Don't bring problems if you can't propose a solution,' is flawed logic?
  • A. It encourages employees to spend too much time brainstorming instead of working.
  • B. It causes employees to hide serious problems from management until it's too late.
  • C. It forces managers to solve every minor issue that arises in the office.
  • D. It creates a highly competitive environment where employees steal each other's ideas.
Question 6 of 10
When interviewing candidates, why is it often better to hire someone with a great attitude but no experience over someone with great experience but a bad attitude?
  • A. Inexperienced candidates generally demand a lower starting salary.
  • B. Experienced candidates are more likely to leave the company within a year.
  • C. It is much harder to change a person's attitude than it is to teach them new technical skills.
  • D. Candidates with bad attitudes usually do not understand the company's core values.
Question 7 of 10
How does the book suggest managers can transform conventional performance reviews into more motivating experiences?
  • A. By eliminating formal goals and telling employees to simply 'do their best.'
  • B. By focusing solely on correcting the employee's weaknesses from the past year.
  • C. By turning them into a 'preview' where employees visualize their success and goals for the year ahead.
  • D. By conducting them in a group setting so peers can evaluate each other.
Question 8 of 10
What technique is recommended to ensure everyone participates and is heard during a meeting?
  • A. Draw a circle with participants' names and use checkmarks to track who has contributed.
  • B. Implement a strict time limit of two minutes per speaker.
  • C. Only invite extroverted team members to brainstorming sessions.
  • D. Pass around a physical 'talking stick' that must be held to speak.
Question 9 of 10
When introducing new positive leadership tools to your team, how should you view resistance from your employees?
  • A. As a sign of disrespect that requires immediate disciplinary action.
  • B. As an indicator that you have used too much confusing jargon.
  • C. As a natural, promising sign of change that highlights their own pain points.
  • D. As proof that you need to get explicit permission from HR before proceeding.
Question 10 of 10
What is the psychological purpose of holding a pen gently between your teeth?
  • A. It prevents you from speaking out of turn during stressful meetings.
  • B. It forces you to take slow, deep breaths, which naturally calms the nervous system.
  • C. It serves as a visual cue to your team that you are currently busy and should not be interrupted.
  • D. It activates your smiling muscles, tricking your brain into feeling happy and mitigating a bad mood.

Profit from the Positive — Full Chapter Overview

Profit from the Positive Summary & Overview

Profit from the Positive explains how leaders can increase productivity, collaboration and profitability by using the tools of positive psychology to boost their employees’ performance. It gives clear examples of how small changes can make big differences.

Who Should Listen to Profit from the Positive?

  • Business leaders, managers, executive coaches
  • Human resource professionals
  • Anyone who wants to get ahead by being positive

About the Author: Margaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin

Margaret Greenberg is an executive coach to Fortune 500 firms and founder of The Greenberg Group consultancy. Senia Maymin has a Stanford PhD in organizational behavior and has consulted for clients including Google and Intel.

🎧
Listen in the AppOffline playback & background play
Get App