Embracing Positive Intelligence: Overcoming Saboteurs and Cultivating the Sage Within

Oct 31, 2023

Ever felt a nagging voice inside holding you back just as you're about to take a leap forward? What if you could identify and overcome these internal adversaries to unlock your true potential? In this inaugural "solo" episode of Authentic Change, Mike Horne dives into the transformative power of 'Positive Intelligence' and reveals how to conquer these silent saboteurs. Drawing from the work of Shirzad Chamine's book, "Positive Intelligence", Mike explores the power of positive psychology and its impact on personal transformation and leadership development. This episode should be useful for anyone seeking to foster a more positive and resilient mindset in their personal and professional lives.

Mike's expertise as a leadership coach shines through as he discusses the concept of mental saboteurs and how they obstruct professional success and personal happiness. He not only identifies these saboteurs but also provides practical techniques to conquer negative thought patterns and develop a sage perspective characterized by empathy, creativity, and resilience. HR leaders will find value in this episode, as Mike suggests ways to incorporate positive intelligence into leadership team development and organizational culture, fostering a more positive, productive, and resilient workforce.

In addition to exploring positive intelligence, Mike also draws a comparison to the immunity to change work by Bob Keegan and Lisa Leahy. While positive intelligence focuses on overcoming mental saboteurs and fostering a sage perspective, immunity to change delves into subconscious resistances that hinder personal and professional growth. Both approaches offer valuable tools for personal transformation, with positive intelligence enhancing mental resilience and positivity, and immunity to change targeting hidden commitments and assumptions that contradict change goals.

Whether you're a leader seeking personal transformation or an HR leader looking to create a more positive and resilient organizational culture, positive intelligence can be a valuable resource.

• “We can work together to understand how saboteurs obstruct this personal happiness, this congruency, and we'll do it with some practical techniques, as suggested by Chamine, to conquer negative thought patterns. The other thing that I can do in a coaching relationship now is to really help clients to develop their sage perspective to foster empathy, creativity, and exploratory mindset that encourages a more positive response to challenges, enhances, I think, resilience, enhances performance, and particularly in these very demanding executive roles and leadership roles that my clients face and our clients face.” (6:43 | Mike Horne)
• “An HR leader can implement strategies that really foster and support mental health and foster a more positive and resilient workforce. And you could even incorporate it into your conflict resolution strategies. By helping individuals understand their saboteurs and develop the sage mindset, perhaps they can resolve conflicts more constructively and relationships within teams can be strengthened. (10:24 | Mike Horne)
• "Positive intelligence focuses on enhancing mental resilience and positivity." (12:33 | Mike Horne)
• “Positive intelligence is the measure of the degree to which your mind is serving you versus sabotaging you.” (14:13 | Mike Horne)