Page 86 - Appreciative Leadership

The Art of Illumination 59

people in sharing stories of strengths, hope, and high performance,

people are left unclear about what they must do to succeed. But when
leaders discover and pass along stories of outstanding results, they are

implicitly saying, “This is the way to do things around here if you too
want to be a recognized winner.”
The art of illumination requires the willingness and ability to

see what works rather than what doesn’t, the interest and capacity to
discover peoples’ strengths, and the capability to sense the positive
potential in every person and situation. Illumination is like the sun:
when it radiates, people feel it and are warmed by it—and are there-
fore eager to give their best. As Table 4-1 shows, there are four impor-
tant illumination practices: seeking, seeing, sharing, and aligning the
best of people and situations.

TABLE 4-1
FOUR PRACTICES OF ILLUMINATION

1. Seeking the Best of People, Situations, and Organizations
Appreciative leaders actively seek to discover the unique skills, abilities, strengths,
and positive potential of every person and situation. They ask questions and use
assessments to identify strengths, work style preferences, and high-performance
patterns. They engage others in inquiry to uncover positive potential and people’s
hopes and dreams for the future. By routinely seeking the best, appreciative lead-
ers create a powerfully positive presence that others are naturally drawn to follow.
Do you seek to understand why people succeed? Are you curious about people’s
unique skills, abilities, hopes, and dreams? Are you a strengths spotter?
2. Seeing What Works When People Are at Their Best
Appreciative leaders have their eyes and ears open to see and hear what works. They
have a distinct preference for understanding specific details of why people, products,

services, and processes succeed—the root causes of their success. They are always
on the lookout for the best way of doing things. They argue for strengths, standard-
ization of best practices, and inspiring innovation. They trust those who can see
ahead of the curve; and they trust their intuition and wisdom about what will succeed.

(Continued)