The Positive Leader

The idea that we should strive to be successful is deeply rooted in Western society. Similarly, it is commonly thought that a leader should adhere to a specific stereotype: only by doing so will they be able to guarantee the best results. Mühlfeit himself admits to having been truly obsessed with performance at the beginning of his career. Over time though, following numerous encounters with businessmen and women from a diverse range of sectors, he became aware of the need for a new model and the fact that this model should not be centred around productivity and profit..

He identified four crucial errors that were frequently made, and from this, developed his idea of a different type of leadership, defined by the concept of well-being: positive leadership, as declared in the book’s title. Traditional leaders share some common traits, which according to Mühlfeit, result in them making some serious mistakes. Firstly, they target weaknesses, not strengths; they do not have a dream and fail to form connections with their teams; they manage time instead of energy. Lastly, they strive solely for success, rather than happiness. 

The positive leader, on the other hand, is a figure that embodies and promotes change: a person capable of understanding and developing people’s potential, and they differentiate themselves by means of their vision, which emanates authenticity, passion, and energy.