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Shawn Achor's
Topics
Peak Performance
The
Happiness Advantage: Linking
Positive Brains to
Performance
Most companies and schools
follow this formula: if you
work harder, you will be
more successful, and then
you will be happy. This
formula is scientifically
backward. A decade of
research shows that training
your brain to be positive at
work first actually fuels
greater success second. In
fact, 75% of our job success
is predicted not by
intelligence, but by your
optimism, social support
network and the ability to
manage energy and stress in
a positive way. By
researching top performers
at Harvard, the world’s
largest banks, and Fortune
500 companies, Shawn
discovered patterns which
create a happiness advantage
for positive outliers—the
highest performers at the
company. Based on his new
book, The Happiness
Advantage (September 2010
from Random House), Shawn
explains what positive
psychology is, how much we
can change, and practical
applications for reaping the
Happiness Advantage in the
midst of change and
challenge.
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Leadership
Positive Leadership:
Restoring a Culture of
Confidence
Confidence, trust and job
satisfaction are at historic
lows. When the economic
collapse began, the world’s
largest banks called in
Shawn Achor to research how
to restore confidence and
forward progress. While many
managers succumb to
helplessness, with their
teams and clients quickly
following suit, Shawn
researched those who
maintained high levels of
success and leadership
during the challenge. He
found that our brains create
confidence based on the
belief that our behavior
matters to the outcome we
desire. To develop this
trust, we must create "wins"
for our brain necessary to
overcome learned
helplessness and must train
our brains for rational
optimism. Based on the
science of positive
psychology and case studies
of working with companies in
the midst of an economic
collapse, Shawn provides
practical applications for
raising the belief that
individual behavior matters
and helping leaders to keep
teams motivated and engaged.
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Managing Change
The Ripple Effect: How to
Make Positive Change Easier
Common sense is not common
action. This is because
information does not
necessarily cause
transformation because we
require a certain level of
"activation energy" to start
a change. Shawn's research
in the field of positive
psychology has revealed how
changes in our own brain due
to mindset and behavior can
have a ripple effect to a
team and an entire
organization. This positive
ripple effect can create a
more productive, positive
work culture making positive
change easier. Audiences
will learn about the latest
scientific research on
mirror neurons and mental
priming to explain how
positivity and negativity
spread, case studies on how
to become a lightning rod
for change, and findings on
how a positive ripple effect
profoundly affects an
organization's ability to
transition and change.
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