INTRODUCTION

I was twelve when I read an illustrated book about Sisyphus, the king who was being punished after falling from grace. For weeks I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. This poor former king painstakingly pushing a huge boulder up a steep hill over and over again, only to see his efforts unravel right before making it to the top. What torture, I thought! I felt burdened and depressed just thinking about it. It took me years of observing myself and others to realize that in many aspects of our lives we don’t fare much better than Sisyphus. Many of our efforts at improving our success or happiness unravel just as surely as the giant boulder rolling back to the bottom of the hill. Think about it. Why are most New Year’s resolutions abandoned year after year? Why do most dieters succumb to yo-yo dieting? Why does that nagging and anxious voice in our head keep returning to torture us when we are trying to sleep? Why is our increased happiness so fleeting after we achieve what we thought would bring lasting happiness? Why do new leadership skills acquired in workshops soon give way to old habits? Why do expensive teambuilding retreats only result in temporary blips in team cohesion and performance? We are indeed being tortured and punished, just as Sisyphus was. But here’s the catch!

The torture is self-inflicted. The reason so many of our attempts at improving our success or happiness fizzle is that we sabotage ourselves. More precisely, our own minds sabotage us. Your mind is your best friend. But it is also your worst enemy. Undetected “Saboteurs” in your mind cause most of your setbacks without your full awareness. The consequences are huge. Only 20 percent of individuals and teams achieve their true potential. The rest of us waste a lot of our time and vital energy playing Sisyphus. With Positive Intelligence you can both measure and significantly improve the percentage of time that your mind is serving you rather than sabotaging you. This will permanently shift the balance of power inside your mind so you can achieve more of your vastly untapped potential—and help others do the same. Positive Intelligence is ultimately about action and results. Its tools and techniques are a synthesis of the best practices in neuroscience, organizational science, positive psychology, and Co-Active® coaching. I have honed these tools over many years, first through my own experience as CEO of two companies, and then through coaching hundreds of other CEOs, their senior executive teams, and, sometimes, their families. These tools had to pack a strong punch in a short time in order to fit busy and demanding lives—with some taking as little as 10 seconds to produce results. I encourage you to have high expectations for what you can get out of this book. All of the stories in this book, while simplified for greater brevity and clarity, are based on actual experiences of my clients. If the experiences of those who have gone before you are any indication, the material in this book can change your life and be a game-changer for your team or organization. Please don’t settle for anything less.