Positive Intelligence - by Shirzad Chamine (Hardcover)

About the Book

Chamine exposes how your mind is sabotaging you and keeping your from achieving your true potential. He shows you how to take concrete steps to unleash the vast, untapped powers of your mind.

Book Synopsis

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER

In his popular Stanford University lectures, Shirzad Chamine reveals how to achieve one's true potential for both professional success and personal fulfillment. His groundbreaking research exposes ten well-disguised mental Saboteurs. Nearly 95 percent of the executives in his Stanford lectures conclude that these Saboteurs cause "significant harm" to achieving their true potential. With Positive Intelligence, you can learn the secret to defeating these internal foes. Positive Intelligence (PQ)SM measures the percentage of time your mind is serving you as opposed to sabotaging you. While your IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence) contribute to your maximum potential, it is your PQ that determines how much of that potential you actually achieve.

The great news is that you can improve your PQ significantly in as little as 21 days. With higher PQ, teams and professionals ranging from leaders to salespeople perform 30 to 35 percent better on average. Importantly, they also report being far happier and less stressed. The breakthrough tools and techniques in this book have been refined over years of coaching hundreds of CEOs and their executive teams. Shirzad tells many of their remarkable stories, showing how you too can take concrete steps to unleash the vast, untapped powers of your mind.

Discover how to
- Identify and conquer your top Saboteurs. Common Saboteurs include the Judge, Controller, Victim, Avoider, and Pleaser.
- Measure the Positive Intelligence score (PQ) for yourself or your team--and see how close you come to the critical tipping point required for peak performance.
- Increase PQ dramatically in as little as 21 days.
- Develop new brain "muscles," and access 5 untapped powers with energizing mental "power games."
- Apply PQ tools and techniques to increase both performance and fulfillment. Applications include team building, mastering workload, working with "difficult" people, improving work/life balance, reducing stress, and selling and persuading.

Review Quotes

"I've worked closely with Shirzad and experienced him walking the PQ walk. Most change initiatives fizzle because of our mental Saboteurs. Shirzad gives us the tools to conquer them and create positive change that lasts. This is a must-read for any individual or team serious about unleashing peak performance."
--Dean Morton, former COO, Hewlett-Packard (HP) (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Working with Shirzad has had a profound impact on me. His tools and techniques for raising PQ are simple, concrete, pragmatic, and incredibly effective. They help me remain focused on what truly matters and grounded amidst the swirl of daily life. This book is a gift. Make sure you share it."
--Jim Lanzone, President, CBS Interactive (CBS Corporation) (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

Developing a personal leadership model is one of the most practical, energy-saving, and stress-reducing things that anyone can do for themselves. Positive Intelligence makes that job easier by focusing on mastering the two most critical voices in everyone's heads - Saboteur, and Sage. The best news is that leaders at every level can use its approach to get, and stay, on a more "winning" trajectory. Thank you, Shirzad, for writing such a usable, lively, and compelling book.
--Douglas R. Conant, Retired CEO Campbell Soup Company, and New York Times Bestse (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

I have worked with Shirzad personally and seen him work with many other presidents and CEOs. His impact is often gamechanging for a team, and life changing for the individuals. When a coach raises a team's PQ, it can quickly shift every player from good to extraordinary. The player's skills are the same, but he has learned to command those voices in his head to his advantage. That makes all the difference in performance. Positive Intelligence is a must-have for anyone who leads or coaches a team.
--Jed York, President and CEO, San Francisco 49ers (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

Positive Intelligence has the potential to change your life and transform your business. A Real Game Changer.
--James D. White, Chairman, President and CEO, Jamba Juice (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

Positive Intelligence ranks in the top 3 most influential business books I have ever read. If I could give only one book to the thousands of team members in my organization to enhance their performance, it would be this book.
Positive Intelligence has had a lasting and transformative impact on me and others in my organization. It is a powerful framework for bringing out the best in everyone and quieting the worst. When you increase someone's PQ, they will not only perform much better but also feel a whole lot more personal fulfillment and less stress along the way.
--Lisa Stevens, Region President, Wells Fargo Bank (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

Shirzad delivers a simple, do-able, groundbreaking set of exercises that can help you develop your "performance" muscles, increase your PQ score, and gain access to previously untapped mental resources. Working out was never so rewarding or so much fun! So if you're ready to get even better, get this new book - today.
--Marshall Goldsmith - million-selling author of the New York Times bestsellers, M (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

This is a very innovative and important application of original psychological thinking to the business field. The Positive Intelligence model can provide a solid basis for bringing meaning and significant change to one's life. The strategies for identifying and dealing with Saboteur and Sage while harnessing untapped powers of the mind have proved highly effective in the business setting, and might well be applied elsewhere. Read this book if you want to create major positive change in yourself, your loved ones, or your team.
--Crittenden E. Brookes, M.D. Ph.D., Stanford University. Distinguished Life Fell (4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Shirzad Chamine is Chairman of CTI, the largest coach-training organization in the world. CTI has trained coaches and managers in most of the Fortune 500 companies, as well as faculty at Stanford and Yale business schools. A preeminent C-suite advisor, Shirzad has coached hundreds of CEOs and their executive teams. Prior to running CTI, he was the CEO of an enterprise software company. His background includes PhD studies in neuroscience in addition to a BA in psychology, an MS in electrical engineering, and an MBA from Stanford, where he lectures.