Other Resources

Testing Resources

  1. Dr. Martin Seligman Free assessments including the VIA Survey of Character Strengths
  2. Gallup Strength Finder – StrengthsFinder 2.0 and Strengths Based Leadership
  3. Realise2 – Strengths assessment and development tool
  4. Standout Assessment – Strength solution for teams from the Marcus Buckingham Company

 

Recommended Reading

PBDC’s First Certification a Success!

  We were thrilled to host the Shift Positive 360 training here in downtown DC with participants coming from as far away as North Carolina and Seattle, WA to participate! Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich wowed us with the level of detail, the content that they are sharing and the rarity of having training in a tool where there are no ongoing fees. I have never felt more prepared to deliver a certification, than I did after this training.  And I’ve done a lot of certifications!  The combination of a positive/strengths focus and engaging a system makes it a very unique tool.  I used it on the Monday after the Friday training and got much deeper with my interview than I would have otherwise. As one participant said, “It is more than a 360 – it is a framework for…


How to Get Set for an Appreciative Inquiry Summit

The benefits of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) glitter gold (see our previous blog post), but what do you need to assure success? While there is more than one way to host a productive AI summit, seasoned AI expert and summit facilitator Shannon Polly says that there are steps that you (or whoever would plan your AI summit) can take to prep for best outcomes: • Know your organization – Is the organizational culture very top-down? Do you have buy-in from key leaders? Strive to get leaders on-board and solicit at least one of these people to lend their credibility to AI. This might look like a testimonial or keynote address at the beginning of the summit, and will certainly involve their participation in the four phases. If your organization doesn’t believe that focusing on strengths is the best way of approaching…


How to Positively Transform Your Organization

  When you look at your colleagues, do you notice their best qualities? Even when you focus on others’ strengths, you may still feel like the organization is stuck. Maybe you’re mired in inefficient processes. Perhaps you contend with resistance to change. Do you see misalignment between your mission and daily practices? If you do, that’s normal! But it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can do better, because you’re already doing good. If you’re grateful for other’s good points, and yet the organization seems stalled or stuck in some way, conditions are ripe for Appreciative Inquiry (AI). An Appreciative Inquiry summit is an organizational process intended to catalyze positive transformation by noticing what’s already going well, envisioning an optimal future, and leveraging strengths and creativity to get there. This happens when as many stakeholders as possible come together…


Ethics in Coaching

Facing an ethical challenge in one of my subcontracting assignments, this lead me to further exploration of the ICF (International Coach Federation) code of ethics and its concepts and principals with colleagues of mine in the profession and outside of the profession who often had strong viewpoints that contradicted my own. The situation was a friend and my boss has used an online software to collect data from our coaching sessions for purposes of billing and gathering themes from the coaching so that she may present data back to the client.  In addition, she has tried to have us put our coaching notes from the sessions up in two different pieces of software.  On a call a few months ago she asked the group if they would be willing to use the new software to put their notes on it…


Social Support Makes Challenges Easier by Pete Berridge

  Is it surprising that a hill seems less steep when we are rested, in shape, or younger?  Or, that a hill appears steeper and distances appear greater when we are tired and depleted? Research has shown that our physical resources such as fitness, age, and feeling  refreshed influence our visual perception.[i], [ii] How does social support affect visual perception?  Researchers, Schnall, Harber, Stefanucci & Profitt[iii] set out to answer that question and here is what they discovered: Participants accompanied by a friend, when standing in front of a hill, estimated the hill to be 10 to 20% less steep than participants who were alone (even though that friend was standing three feet away, facing the other way, and not talking). Having people simply think of a “supportive person” led participants to see a hill as 10 to 20% less steep. Further, the relationship quality…


Articles

Does Happiness Really Drive Results? by Dan Bowling and Shannon Polly
Choosing Happy by Pauline Estrem
Positive Affect and the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing by Barbara. L. Fredrickson, & Marcial Losada
Retrain your Stressed-Out Brain by Dan Goleman
Have Fun, Make Money by Stephanie L. Gruner
How Positive Psychology Can Boost Your Business by Jill Hamburg Coplan
Well-being in the Workplace and its Relationship to Business Outcomes, A Review of the Gallup Studies by James K. Harter, Corey Keyes, L.M. and Frank L. Schmidt
Positive Psychology as a Catalyst for Change by John E. Michel and Andreas Neuman
Army Program Works to Make Soldiers Fit in Body and Mind by Michael E. Ruane
How to Uncover Employee Potential by Jamie Walters
Why the Office “Good Guy” Enjoys his Work More than You by Donna Hemmert