Poster Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

A Model of Growth for Emerging Leaders (#564)

Sonia Di Maulo 1
  1. Harvest Performance, Montreal, QUEBEC, Canada

We are all emerging leaders at various stages, taking on & avoiding challenges that bring fear. The Model of Growth for Emerging Leaders (Di Maulo, 2014) offers a framework to help us understand/plan for a courageous life through growth; to "apply foresight & anticipation to ‘design for positive emergence’ — to transform the system towards increased health and an improved capacity to respond wisely and creatively to disruptions and change” (Wahl, 2017). The model charts the emotions & reactions that result from implementing change. This individual & psychological change cycle is “natural, normal, and highly predictable” (Haines, 2010).

Use the model to learn how to affect, influence, & prepare for positive change. The cycle - stability to change to instability to new stability - is normal & natural. Instead of fighting the inevitable, we can use it to our advantage. The model helps us navigate relationships, and life/work projects with resilience in the face of uncertainty. Systems thinkers state that change requires the creation of something new based on the mindset of exploring and learning through possibilities. This requires a “discipline of planned abandonment” (Senge, 2000), “letting go of the old in order to create something new" (Baird-Wilkerson, 2003).