Craig Dowden, Ph.D., a certified positive psychology coach, is on a mission to share evidence-based leadership principles. An inspiring and thought-provoking executive coach and an award-winning keynote speaker, Craig partners with clients from diverse industries and sectors, who benefit from his drive, passion and insight. Craig combines the key learnings from these interviews, along with evidence-based principles from the fields of psychology, leadership and organizational excellence in his new book, Do Good to Lead Well: The Science and Practice of Positive Leadership (ForbesBooks, Feb. 8, 2019). The book outlines the return on investment of the six pillars of positive leadership – self-awareness, civility, humility, focus on the positive, meaning/purpose and empathy – and provides a practical and engaging roadmap showing how executives can effectively demonstrate these behaviors within their day to-day leadership practice, for their benefit, as well as for the benefit of the teams and organizations they lead. Dowden received his Doctorate in Psychology with a concentration in Business from Carleton University and completed his Bachelor of Science in psychology at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. He currently lives in Toronto.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“I think what is interesting is trying to figure out what okay when you come from a corporate landscape so what for service do you offer. What kinds of clients, I think that to me was probably one of the most powerful and transformative questions I had to think about, think through and learn from which is what kinds of organisations and individuals do I want to work with. So I think the tendency early on in the business was take everything. You know like these are opportunities so like you need revenue in your business to survive, and especially starting out on your own it’s how do I say no to these opportunities, like everything is equally valuable”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes Book by William Ury
- Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In Book by William L. Ury and Roger Fisher and Bruce M. Patton
- Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations Book by William Ury
Favourite Quote:
“Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood” Stephen Covey
Recommended Online Resources:
- Harvard Business Review – Find new ideas and classic advice on strategy, innovation and leadership, for global leaders from the world’s best business and management experts
- Fast Company is the world s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, and design
- Forbes is a global media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle
- Fortune – Fortune is an American multinational business magazine headquartered in New York City, United States. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. The magazine competes with Forbes and Bloomberg Businessweek in the national business magazine category and distinguishes itself with long, in-depth feature articles.[2] The magazine regularly publishes ranked lists, including the Fortune 500, a ranking of companies by revenue that it has published annually since 1955.
- Entrepreneur Magazine is the a source for everything small business. Get the latest small business information
- Science Daily – Science Daily is an American website that aggregates press releases and publishes lightly edited press releases about science
- Psychology Today – View the latest from the world of psychology from behavioural research to practical guidance on relationships, mental health and addiction Find help from our directory of therapists, psychologists and counsellors
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“really think about your space. Like what makes you different? What differentiates you? And that isn’t qualifications or rarely is it from a qualifications experiential side, it’s what makes you different… What’s your culture? What’s your why? What is it about working with you that’s going to make people feel differently? And that is a challenging question and takes a lot of time… Recognising bad business for you as well as good business”…[Listen for More]
More About Craig Dowden:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.” Oprah Winfrey
Other Quotes From the Chat with Craig Dowden:
- “I have always been fascinated by peak performance and maximising our potential”
- “what makes you different? What enables you stand out?”
- “Just be really open to the market and the trusted advisers that you have around you”
- “be clear on who you are. Say no. And you can say no without being disrespectful. Saying no allows you to say yes to more things. So rather than looking at no is closing a door it’s well it closes this door and opens up a better one or a different one”
- “we all have to get better at saying no”
- “just constantly learn. I learn every day, I love learning. I think if you don’t learn as an entrepreneur especially in today’s environment it’s really a recipe for disaster. Because things shift so quickly and so you want to continually question your assumptions, not necessarily because they are wrong, it’s just the smart thing to do”
- “iterate, iterate, iterate”
- “sometimes in sales conversations or in stakeholder conversations we can lead with what we know all lead with we want to show what we know versus understanding somebody else’s reality”
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