Portrait and Best-self Stories

We invite to ac whapledge our collaborators, Brianna Barker Caza, Ph. D. , and Emily Heaphy, Ph. D. , for their contributions to our ongoing research on the jobed out act ego-importance-importance usage (RBSE). This research served as the inspiration and conceptual anchor for this exercise. We convey Jennifer Suesse for her collaboration on the Bringing My smoothened crush ego to aliveness achievement steps, which inspired Phase 2 in this edition of the exercise. We thank the mis use of goods and serviceshen M. Ross naturalise of care for its continued support of the Center for substantiative organisational intuition.We revalue the questions and comments we bear received from those who moderate completed and/or facilitated the RBSE. Thank you for sh atomic number 18-out how you flummox brought your opera hat self to brio COPYRIGHT INFORMATION This imitate is intended for single use solo. occupy do non transcript or distribute. The Reflected Best egotism do is available for sale as a PDF download at the website of the Center for Positive organizational Scholarship, www. centerforpos. org. REFLECTED surmount ego manage 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF mileEXECUTIVE BRIEF Born from empirical research from University of land miles Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, the Reflected Best Self enjoyment (RBSE) uses stories collected from muckle in on the whole contexts of your life to economic aid you get wind and articulate who you argon and how you digest when you are at your break off. With this sunrise(prenominal) discernment, you go out feel immediately strengthened and connected to others, experience clarity most who you are at your trounce, and refine ad hominem instruction goals to be your beaver self to a expectanter extent frequently.The RBSE guides you step-by-step with the process of identifying potential respondents, fashioning the beseech for feedback, creating your a priori st ovepipe-self enactment, analyzing your hypothesizeed beat out-self stories, creating a refreshful, reflected beat out-self personation, and translating that portrait into proactive steps for life season at your best. 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF clams REFLECTED BEST self perform OVERVIEW All of us keister rec any our own extraordinary moments, those moments when we felt that our best self was brought to light, affirmed by others, and put into practice in the world.These memories are heat up into our straitss as moments or situations in which we shake up felt alive, true to our deepest selves, and prosecute our full potential as human beings. Over eon, we collect these experiences into a portrait of who we are and what we do when we are at our personal best. This best-self portrait is a resource we call on to build confidence, to serve us make decisions, to be courageous, to prepare and settle possibilities for the future, to face challenges, and so oft more.We raft strengthen our own best-self portraits with insights reflected back to us from signifi bunst others in our lives. Our friends, colleagues, and family fellow members have contrary perspectives, and smoke offer rummy and valuable insights into the ship canal we add value and make commanding contributions. Research shows that the difference among a weakness-based self portrait and a strong best-self portrait is almost correlated to the difference between normal and extraordinary leadership.A popular assertion of personal victimisation exercises and programs is that a persons area of weakness is that persons greatest area of opportunity (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Prop unrivalednts of a strengths-based penchant argue that the deficit model whitethorn diminish multitudes chances of making their greatest contributions, which is performing at their best, or achieving an combined sense of who one is at ones best.A strengths-based approach to personal instruction assumes that progress towards excellence is not a function of improving on weaknesses, but is a function of building on strengths. As youll see in the last step of this exercise, the RBSE downs a nuanced approach to infracting sagacity of both your strengths and weaknesses. CHANGES TO THIS EDITION The 2011 version of the Reflected Best Self Exercise has been updated to reflect advancements in research and years of feedback from users and facilitators of the exercise. Some of the important updates were to Highlight unique attributes of the RBSE, such as the use of stories, an emphasis on strengths exclusively, and solicitation of respondents from all contexts of the participants life Instruct participants to bring through personal best-self stories to occupy with the reflected best-self stories Provide more instruction on the analysis of best-self stories individually and in aggregate Incorporate natural process-planning activities into the RBSE to help participa nts identify developmental goals that relate to the best self Combine the best of the original Reflected Best Self Exercise subsidisation and Instructions to Participants and the Bringing My Reflected Best Self to Life brochure previously published separately Honor wisdom gained by facilitators and users over the years since first publication REFLECTED BEST ego EXERCISE 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF international mile TABLE OF CONTENTSParticipant Instructions . 1 Phase 1 Creating the Reflected Best-Self Portrait beat 1 come out Potential Respondents.. 1, 2 gradation 2 quest Reflected Best-Self Stories 2, 3 Step 3 Write Your Own Best-Self Stories . 3, 4 Step 4 go All Best-Self Stories.. 4, 5, 6 Step 5 mollify the Reflected Best-Self Portrait.. 6 Phase 2 Bringing the Reflected Best Self to LifeStep 1 Analyze Context, List Enablers and Blockers. 7, 8, 9 Step 2 farm an reach Plan . 9, 10 Author Information.. 11 level and Basis in Research. 12 About the Center for POS. 12 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF kale REFLECTED BEST ego EXERCISE PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS both phases comprise the Reflected Best Self Exercise (RBSE).In Phase 1, you go away take your reflected best-self portrait. In Phase 2, you testament induce a personal development action plan inspired by new insight into you at your best. (Content previously found in the Bringing My Reflected Best Self to Life clearbook. ) After distributively step in any phase you go forth see how our sample participant, Shawn, approached the step and a Your Turn icon ( ) with suggestions for how you can approach the step yourself. For some steps we in any case discuss other options to augment the exercise. Phase 1 Creating the Reflected Best-Self Portrait Step 1 Identify Potential Respondents Thoughtfully select 15-20 plenty whom you give ask to deliver stories most you at your best. Why 15 20?Over time, researchers of the RBSE have found that identifying 15-20 potenti al respondents from whom you wish to solicit best-self stories should help surface a sufficient number of stories. Realize that due to time and other constraints, not e rattlingone bequeath be able to respond. I cutly, you go forth receive at least 30 stories, or three stories from 10 respondents, of you at your best. This number has provided early(prenominal) RBSE participants with sufficient data in which patterns across those stories can be found. How should I create this list of potential respondents? Choose heap who have seen you at your best and people who entrust give you their honest opinion.Research shows that the RBSE is most in force(p) when your respondents come from a mix of colleagues ( condition or current), superiors or subordinates, friends (old or upstart), family members, customers, and anyone who has had broad contact with you. sleep with that past participants have found that their respondents have been rather willing, yet eager, to assist with this e xercise. (And past participants have been happy to reciprocate the party favor ) TABLE 1 SAMPLE LIST OF POTENTIAL RESPONDENTS rascal 1 /// REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN YOUR TURN Review the lists of contacts in your email account, address book, or social net blending sites to refresh your memory.When you create a list of potential respondents, double-check to make current a cross-section(prenominal) of people from your spheres of influence is represented. Shawn used a sp get wordsheet to organize the list. Step 2 Request Reflected Best-Self Stories Compose a flooring request (see hithertot request below) and email it to the 15-20 potential respondents you identified in Step 1. NOTE on that point are umpteen ways to solicit and gather these stories. The below example is written for an individual user who is soliciting and compiling best-self stories as a relegate assignment. If your professor or program administrator is solici ting and compiling stories on your behalf, occupy use the customized instructions that they provide for contacting potential respondents.Shawns seek e-mail Request for Stories Dear name, I hope this message regulates you soundly I am writing to request your help with a class assignment. I am taking a course on leadership development as part of my MBA program. I would be grateful for your help with one of the use upd exercises for the course, the Reflected Best Self Exercise (RBSE). The Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship at University of boodle created the RBSE to help individuals expand their understanding of who they are and what they do when they are at their best. The RBSE is a unique story-, strength-, and contribution-based approach to feedback-seeking and analysis.A former RBSE participant said of the process, Besides feeling occluder to my friends and peers for their positivist views of me, it was very interesting to note the different impact that I seem t o have made on to severally one of them. The specifics mentioned by them allowed me to see some of the mechanisms by which I influence and have had an impact on people. I am asking people who accredit me well to provide me with three stories of when I was at my best in their eyes. What was my positive contribution in each story? Additional instructions and examples can be found below. Please e-mail your responses to me by insert date. Thank you very much for your cooperation. I will keep all responses anonymous and will be sure to sound out you what I learn afterwards the exercise.Kind Regards, Shawn ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS This will require you to think about your interactions with me and to identify those times when I was at my best in your eyes. In writing, disport be sure to provide expand so I can understand the context, what happened, and what my positive contribution was. Best-self stories often capture things that people say or do in fine times or everyday routines that make a difference. These stories are 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE /// PAGE 2 often unvalued publicly. Best-self stories may describe someones approach to people, challenges, tasks, or even a progress to environment. I have take ond some examples of what these stories could openness worry. Please use this only as a guide. fiction EXAMPLES 1.From action colleague You have the capability to get people to pop off in concert and give all they have to a task. For example, I think of the time that we were works on the Alpha fancy. We were getting behind and the stress was building. We started to close down and get very focus oned on just brush our deadline. You noticed that we were not doing our best work and stopped the group to conceive our approach. You asked whether we emergencyed to just satisfy the requirements or whether we wanted to really do good and important work. You reminded us of what we were capable of doi ng and how each of us could contribute to a better outcome. No one else in that room would have thought to do that.As a result, we did meet the deadline and created a result we all feel proud of. 2. From a friend You have capacity to wear in the face of adversity. For example, I think of the time that we were helping Lila change her flooded basement. Her family lives far away and she was impossibly short-handed. Instead of getting overwhelmed with her, you became more focused than I have ever seen anyone get. I think you went 24 hours without sleep to help her remove the water. I was amazed that you could maintain a positive attitude and consistently helpful orientation to Lila under those conditions. 3. From a boss You are great at building relationships critical to offer success.For example, I think of the time that We were running(a) for a clothing confederacy committed to using organically gainn cotton, and to having fair labor practices. You were the connexion with the v arious agencies and individuals critical to sourcing the organic cotton, and to creating the worker-owned sewing cooperatives here and in central America. Despite resistance, you crafted and co-created a pile for how the business could work to meet these radically different goals. You easily navigated cultural differences and built strong relationships that thrive to this day. If you want to learn more about the Reflected Best Self Exercise, please visit http//www. centerforpos. org YOUR TURN Feel free to transcript and edit Shawns letter to suit your situation and personal style.Consider the options for disseminating this requesthard copy letter, email, online form or surveywhile keeping in mind instructions from your facilitator, speed of delivery and response, ease of compilation, and so on. Step 3 Write Your Own Best-Self Stories temporary hookup you are awaiting your stories from respondents, we ask you to engage in deeper personal reflection about times when you believe you were at your best. You will analyze your own best-self stories, and the analysis will be part of your concluding reflected best-self portrait. Write your own best-self stories Think about three times in your life when you were at your best. Allow yourself to think of stories from all PAGE 3 /// REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN contexts and time periods. For three of these memories, write the story of what happened.In the story you could describe the context, the role you victimizeed, the actions you took, the characteristics you displayed, the results, and the reasons behind your actions. The examples and explanation in the sample letter in Step 2 can be helpful also. Sample Best-Self Story I feel I was at my best helping my organization create and pursue a new vision. We had been in existence for ten years and had tried and learned so numerous things along the way. I believed in the organizations explosive charge but wanted to move us in a new direction to expand our impact. I reflected on what was possible and crafted a vision of our team at our best. I presented the vision to my team and was delighted to comprise their ideas into mine, thus creating something entirely new in a way that coupled the team.YOUR TURN Pretend you received the story request you sent in Step 2. Reflect about times when you were, and normally are, at your best and capture the stories that symbolise that time in the equal space, document, or bear down that will eventually house the stories you receive from respondents. Step 4 Analyze All Best-Self Stories Collect and aggregate your stories and the stories from respondents. Read and reflect on each story Read each of your stories carefully. In a table like the one below, note key insights into who you are and what you do when you are at your best. Youll have an opportunity to analyze the context of the story. Please focus on your actions, contributions, attitudes, etc.WARNING Rea ding these stories can stir up a great deal of (positive) emotions for you. It is normal to find yourself surprised by how people saw you positively. We preach you find a quiet time and space where you can be free from interruptions and you can reflect on what you are learning. NOTE We have analyzed the stories provided in the line sample email in Step 2 as an example below. TABLE 2 SAMPLE private STORY REFLECTION 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE /// PAGE 4 YOUR TURN Collect the stories you receive in a spreadsheet or other document, using the column headings shown in the example for the analysis. nonobligatory measuring stick fetch a trusted group member or friend read your personal and reflected best-self stories to see if they come up with different themes or interpretations for each of the stories. Analyze the stories in aggregate After you have thought deep about each of the stories, look for patterns and themes that emerge fro m considering the stories and analysis together. These patterns or themes will help you write declarative statements about you at your best. These declarative statements will be represent anchoring truths about you at your best and can later(prenominal) be woven into your reflected best-self portrait. PATTERNS Recurring behaviors, contributions, etc. , across all of the stories and analysis.If you are unsure about how to find patterns, try looking for verbs, adjectives, and nouns that you see repeated in the stories or in your analysis of each story. For example, repeated verbs could add together insight into some of your best skills and strengths, and repeated adjectives may lend insight into some of your value and aptitudes, your approaches to problem solving, and the nature of your relationships. THEMES Underlying truths about your values and beliefs and the essence of you at your best, inferred from the collection of stories and analysis. Identify themes and patterns and list several examples from your stories that exemplify that theme.NOTE You may also find stories that exemplify seemingly opposite characteristics. If this is the case, it may indicate adaptability or flexibility as a strength in particular contexts. For example, you might find stories where you find creative solutions, but also consistently comply with standards. TABLE 3 SAMPLE AGGREGATED STORY REFLECTION PAGE 5 /// REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN YOUR TURN Use a spreadsheet or other document to create a table like the one in Table 3. facultative STEP Have a trusted group member or friend read your personal and reflected best-self stories to see if they come up with different themes or interpretations.Step 5 Compose the Reflected Best-Self Portrait Create a portrait of your best-self that captures the wisdom in your personal and reflected best-self analysis. The portrait is meant to be an aggregated adjunction of your personal and reflect ed best self which you can refer to and revise well into the future. It should synthesize the themes and declarations you identified in the tables above. However, be sure that the themes are accredited to younot necessarily just things you do well, but that reflect your identity element as a human being. Reflected best-self portraits are often represented in the form of written narratives (see below for an example).We have also seen participants employ a variety of media to create their reflected best-self portraits. For example, you might represent your portrait in a pictorial collage or montage, a video, a song, or a poem. You may even choose to use multiple formats. Shawns Sample Reflected Best-Self Portrait When I am at my best, I tend to be creative. I am enthusiastic about ideas and I craft bold visions. I am an innovative builder who perseveres in the pursuit of the new. I do not waste energy thinking about disoriented opportunities or past also-rans nor do I take on the prejudicious energy of the insecure or worry about critics. I bide centered and focused on what is possible and important. I use frameworks to help me make sense of complex issues.I can see disparate ideas and integrate them through yes and thinking. So I make points others do not right away see. In doing so, I frame experiences in compelling and engaging ways. I paint visions and provide new ways for people to see. I use metaphors and stories to do this. I find the stories in everyday experiences, and people find it easy to understand them. The new images that follow help people to take action. In helping others, I try to empathize with them and understand their needs. I give them my attention and energy but I allow them to be in charge. In exercising influence, I try to enroll people, not force them, in new directions. I invite people to work with me.I use dialog to help people surface their ideas, and then I weave them together with others until we create knowledge in real tim e. I ignore symptoms and focus on the deep causes. I help people and groups surface the darkest realities and the most painful conflicts. From these emergent tensions comes the energy for transformation. I loose people from their fears and help them embrace new paths. In all of this I try to model the message of integrity, growth and transformation. YOUR TURN Be sure to check with the instructor or facilitator of the RBSE to see if there is a preferable portrait format. Otherwise choose a medium that inspires youAs mentioned above, it could be a pictorial collage or montage, a video, a song, or a poem, or a combination of multiple formats. OPTIONAL STEP Share your draft and final portraits with a trusted group member or friend and request feedback. He or she may be able to help you see your portrait differently. 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE /// PAGE 6 Phase 2 Bringing the Reflected Best Self to Life As you complete your reflected best-self portrait and begin to slop about your best self with others, more questions may emerge. You may be wondering How can I use this knowledge to enhance the forest of my work and my life? How might I incorporate my best self into my current job, relationships, and future career plans? Which situations will stimulate me to contribute maximally from a position of strength? Can those situations also help me to grow and develop? How can I manage my limitations? The steps below can help answer these questions. Step 1 Analyze Context, List Enablers and Blockers As you review your portrait, stories, themes, and patterns, look to identify contextual elements that either helped or hindered your ability to be your best. These enablers and blockers can be personal, relational, or situational. Personal enablers or blockers hold the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that affect your ability to leverage your best self in a given context. How do your personal beliefs support or undermi ne your best self?EXAMPLE An individuals belief in his or her ability to contribute in class is correlated with how often he or she chooses to do so. Relational enablers and blockers are those relationships that either support or undermine your best self. EXAMPLE Shawn has one sister who is a great sounding board for new ideas, but another sister who only points out what could go wrong. Situational enablers and blockers accept any contextual features (e. g. , organisational standards, systems, and practices) that foster or inhibit leveraging your best self. Which situations bring out the best in you? Which situations inhibit your best self? EXAMPLE Some people are at their best in group situations, rather than when working alone.Shawn is best working with others and rarely does well when isolated or working in an impersonal environment. On Weakness A word of discreetness as you begin this analysis remember that your weaknesses should be considered as blockers. While this exercise focuses on your strengths, neglecting any known Achilles heels could interfere with your ability to gain on your strengths. Robert Kaplan1 has identified two common distortions in behavior that are useful to consider here overdoing strengths and underdoing strengths2. The table on the next varlet illustrates some other common fatal flaws 1 2 Kaplan, S. (2002). Know your strengths. Harvard Business Review. 80(3), 20. From High Flyers by Morgan W. McCall, Jr. Boston Harvard Business schooling Press, 1998) page 29, figure 2-1. PAGE 7 /// REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TABLE 4 AVOID OVER-RELIANCE ON YOUR STRENGTHS 2 Sources of initial success Track Record Makes an impressive impact in structural or technical area > > can proceed fatal flaws. Seen as too narrow in a particular area blaze Seen as uncommonly bright > Intimidating dismissive of other peoples ideas Commitment Sacrifice Extremely loyal to the organization > Defines life in terms of work expects others to do the same Charm suitable of considerable charisma and warmth > Uses selectively to manipulate other people AmbitionDoes whatever is required to achieve success > Does what is necessary to achieve personal success, even at the expense of others in the organization In many situations you are required to operate in your areas of weakness. If you do not perform your jobs tasks at a reasonable level of competence, failure will follow. Try managing around weaknesses instead this may mean decision someone else to do the tasks you do poorly, putting in enough private road to develop your areas of weakness to an acceptable level of performance, and so on. Now is the time to analyze your data to see if they reveal any patterns or insights regarding either personal, relational, or situational factors.TABLE 5 SAMPLE IDENTIFICATION OF ENABLERS AND BLOCKERS 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE /// PAGE 8 YO UR TURN Shawn listed some enablers and blockers in a spreadsheet with two columns. In the end, his list was actually much longer than this with many more enablers than blockers. It might be good to have two solely different documents for listing these to allow yourself room for more creativity. Step 2 Create an Action Plan As you navigate choices about what slip of assignments to seek and what kind of skills to develop among a million other choices you face, it helps to work toward an action plan rooted in the insights about you at your best.Having a better understanding of your best self and the skills, characteristics, and opportunities that you need to make a positive impact increases the odds that you will make choices differently after this exercise. Your challenge, therefore, is to identify how to grow from where you are today. This is precisely the purpose of visioning and articulating an action plan. Visioning Reflect on the choices you will have to make in the coming days , weeks, months, and years. Reflect on your best-self stories, your reflected best-self portrait, and your list of enablers and blockers as you prepare to write your action plan. What can you do to amplify the conditions or relationships that enable you to be your best at these decision points? How can you work around or lessen the blockers?How can you make your best self even better? TABLE 6 SAMPLE REFLECTION PAGE 9 /// REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN YOUR TURN Consider your key choices and the (short-term and long-term) actions that will help you be at your best. Write your thoughts down Shawn chose a spreadsheet dividing the choices by immediacy. Shawn could do a chart like this for personal and community life, too. Action Planning In this section, take look at your reflections and think about what you would need to do to bring them to life. The following questions might be helpful How will you know if you are making progress with y our best self goals? What evidence will you seek to document your progress? What resources will you need to continue to develop into your best self? What is your plan for accessing or building these resources? Sample Action Plan When I give performance evaluations I will know I am my best self when employees leave feeling energized about what is possible for their future with my team. I will help him/her see his/her best self and possibilities for managing weakness. Well come up with an action plan together. I will watch the employees behavior during our meeting but also in the weeks following the evaluation. I will meet with the employee regularly to listen to his/her story of progress.I will need to make time in my schedule to do this but it is time well-spent if we can keep the team energized. I will talk to my boss this week to enroll him in this plan, which will help me get the resources I need to execute it. YOUR TURN Shawn chose to reflect the action plan in narrative form, create in a fork up of goals the steps necessary to attain them. Choose the medium to do the same that works best for youcalendar reminders, apprise accountability partners, etc. OPTIONAL STEP Have a trusted group member or friend read your reflections for this section. Encourage this person to help you see even more resources and hold you accountable to your action plan. Thank you for completing the Reflected Best Self ExerciseWe wish you the best 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE /// PAGE 10 AUTHOR INFORMATION Robert E. Quinn Margaret Elliott Tracy Collegiate professor in Business constitution Professor of circumspection and Organizations, University of dough Robert E. Quinn is interested in the process of positive change. He seeks to understand processes that lead to increase individual and collective capacity. His recent books include Lift Becoming a Positive Force in any Situation (Berrett-Koehler 2009) and Diagnosing and ever -changing Organizational Culture (Jossey-Bass 2006). He combines both a research and an apply orientation.He has 25 years of experience in working with executives on issues of organizational change. He teaches in both the MBA and Executive Education programs at the University of Michigan and is known for innovative instructional efforts. Jane E. Dutton Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration and Psychology, University of Michigan Jane Duttons research on positive organizational cognition began with an interest in compassion and the difference it makes for individuals and organizations. Her research has expanded to focus on the power of positive relationships at work, positive identities and meaning, job crafting, and resilience.Her recent books include Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations (Routledge 2009), Exploring Positive Relationships and Organizations (Lawrence Erlbaum 2007), and Positive Organizational Scholarship (BerrettKoehl er 2003). Janes background in strategic worry keeps her focused on how positive dynamics create sustainable capabilities in organizations. Gretchen Spreitzer Professor of Management and Organizations, University of Michigan Gretchen Spreitzers research focuses on employee empowerment and leadership development, particularly at bottom a context of organizational change and decline. Her most recent work is looking at positive deviance and how organizations enable employees to thrive and become their best selves.Most recently she is involved in a large-scale project to validate a measure of thriving at work and better understand strategies employees can use to regulate their subjective and physiological energy. Her books include A Company of Leaders (Jossey-Bass 2001) and the Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship (Oxford, 2011), co-edited with Kim Cameron. Laura Morgan Roberts Professor of Psychology, Culture, and Organization Studies, Antioch University Laura Morgan Robertss research focuses on how to construct, sustain, and restore positive identities at work. She became interested in positive organizational scholarship through her doctoral dissertation research on social identity-based impression management among medical professionals.Her interests in the social construction of positive identities now include the reflected best self, diversity, authenticity, strengths, leadership, and talent management. She is a faculty affiliate of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship. PAGE 11 /// REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN HISTORY AND BASIS IN RESEARCH The Reflected Best Self Exercise (RBSE) is the product of work by scholars at the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. It had its genesis in Bob Quinns belief in the benefit of colleagues sharing their thoughts on each others strengths. After seeing the power it had in executive education rograms, he joined Jane Dutton, Emily Heaphy, Laura Morgan Roberts, and Gretchen Spreitzer to form the Reflected Best Self lab in 2002. The team conducted research on the concept, and began using it in classes, with great success. In 2003, Bob Quinn, Jane Dutton, and Gretchen Spreitzer wrote the Reflected Best Self Exercise Assignment and Instructions to Participants, and they, along with Laura Morgan Roberts, created an accompanying teaching note. Since then, use of the RBSE has spread passim the U. S. , and it is increasingly being used around the world. Universities, which have included it in their curricula include Darden School of Business, Harvard Business School, MIT, Stephen M.Ross School of Business, University of British Columbia, University of Southern California, and working capital University. It was also the subject of articles in the Harvard Business Review and the Academy of Management Review in 2005 and in the Journal of Positive Psycho logy in 2009. Key references include Roberts, L. , Dutton, J. , Spreitzer, G. , Heaphy, E. , & Quinn, R. (2005). Composing the reflected best self portrait edifice pathways for becoming extraordinary in work organizations. Academy of Management Review, 30(4), 712-736. Roberts, L. , Spreitzer, G. , Dutton, J. , Quinn, R. , Heaphy, E. , & Barker, B. (2005). How to play to your strengths. Harvard Business Review, 83(1), 75-80. Spreitzer, G. , Stephens, J. P. , & Sweetman, D. (2009).The Reflected Best Self field experiment with adolescent leaders exploring the psychological resources associated with feedback source and valence. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 331-348. ABOUT THE CENTER FOR POS At the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), we are devoted to perk up and transforming organizations through research on the theory and practice of positive organizing and leadership. We are passionately dedicated to the development and dissemination of POS research. Ou r activities include conducting research, writing on POS topics for academic and general books and periodicals, writing teaching cases, and creating tools to help individuals improve their work life.We share POS principles in BBA, MBA, and Executive Education programs at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and in presentations at various academic institutions. Positive Links, our monthly speaker series, brings together scholars and practitioners to learn and discuss new POS research and POS cerebrate to practice. We are also passionate about building the community of researchers who check POS, and our biennial conference attracts scholars from around the world. We are all on a quest to reveal what is possible in organizations and for employees. 2003, 2011 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE /// PAGE 12 DESIGNED BY STEPHANIE HARDEN