The Power of a Positive Attitude
By Roger Fritz
AMACOM, 2008[powerpress http://gsbm-med.pepperdine.edu/gbr/audio/fall2009/jgoosby.mp3]
In The Power of a Positive Attitude, author Roger Fritz shares wisdom collected from decades as a top-level consultant, educator, and leader. This well-written and well-organized book is a quick read that dispenses useful advice for evaluating one’s own and others’ effectiveness in the workplace.
One worthwhile idea that Fritz presents is the LVP (Least Valuable People) Profile, which the reader can use first reflectively, then prescriptively to increase effectiveness in the workplace. The book also contains multiple checklists that managers and individual contributors can use to guide their professional development in managing effectively and developing or maintaining a positive attitude.
The author’s ideas seem valid and particularly useful during this time of economic uncertainty; however, there is little substantiation offered to back them up. As examples, the author presents characteristics of successful real-life leaders and methods for managing stress.
While these and other ideas offered in the book have “face validity” and are within the realm of conventional management wisdom, the author provides no basis for them in the psychological or management research literature. For these reasons, the book provides little conceptual contribution to seasoned managers or scholars who have already accepted the premise that a positive attitude aids personal and professional effectiveness.
That said, the author concisely and cleverly uses quotes and anecdotes to paint a broad brushstroke for those new to management. Fritz makes a clear argument for the benefits of a positive attitude in the workplace and provides behavioral markers that we can all use to gauge our own and others’ behavior.
I would recommend this book to new managers or students of management education who are looking to establish a personal philosophy of management and leadership.
