• Shows how leaders can unlock the latent power and potential in their organizations through simple actions

• Written by top thought leaders in the field of positive organizational scholarship, such as Kim Cameron, Robert Quinn, and Adam Grant

• Includes a wealth of real-world examples and evidence-based advice

Some leaders are able to dramatically expand their people’s—and their own—capacity for excellence. And they accomplish this without enormous resources or huge heroic gestures. Like the butterfly in Brazil whose flapping wings create a typhoon in Texas, you can create profound positive change in your organization through simple actions and attitude shifts.

This book shares what Jane Dutton, Gretchen Spreitzer, and their fellow authors have discovered after years of studying extraordinarily effective organizations. They show that something as relatively easy as letting employees customize their jobs to fit their strengths can unlock their energy, initiative, and sense of purpose. They describe actions that build positive relationships inside and outside the organization—for example, bringing in customers and clients so your people can personally connect with them and experience the impact they’re having on them firsthand.

Several chapters explore the many tangible benefits that flow from building ethical organizations that tap into people’s innate goodness and sense of fairness. And the authors tackle how to deal with one of a leader’s greatest challenges—leading change in ways that build hope rather than fear and make your people active contributors to the change process. Each chapter features a real-world example from both well-known organizations such as Wells Fargo, Ford, Kelly Services, and Burt’s Bees to lesser-known ones such as Connecticut’s Griffin Hospital and the Michigan-based Zingerman’s community of businesses.

Because positive leadership is based on simple, inexpensive actions, it provides a sustainable way to consistently bring out the best in people and organizations. It offers a vision of leadership that is not about richness of resources but richness of possibilities.