“Be the sun, not the salt”

It never fails - whenever the sun comes out, so do the people!  Every year, as the days start to get longer again after the long, dark winter, sun worshipers awake from their winter hibernation and flock to the beach in an annual rite of Spring.  Is it the sun or the proximity to water that we desperately crave?  I could argue either way (see one of my old posts "The Blue Marble Project" and the book, Blue Mind by Wallace Nichols for a brief discussion of the evidence), and I for one have always enjoyed the sun and the water!  However, today I want to focus on our natural inclination towards sunlight.  Light from the Sun gives us positive energy (both literally and figuratively) that sustains life on our planet.  

Clearly, there is undoubtedly some kind of mystical force to explain our attraction to light.  Just ask yourself what you do whenever you walk into a dark room - I bet the first thing that you do is turn on the light!  What do we always say whenever we are trying to complete a difficult task or juggle all of the things we have to do in our personal and professional lives?  It's usually some version like, "There's a light at the end of the tunnel."  What do we say about individuals whose happiness and joy always seem to bring out that same joy in others?  "She just lights up the room" or "She brightens my day."  

There's a scientific explanation here - it's called a "heliotropic effect".  The ancient Greeks knew that the different parts of a plant (leaves and flowers) "move" towards the Sun (the name was later changed to "phototropism" since the plants moved towards light rather than just the Sun).  As it turns out, humans are just like plants!  Well, sort of.  We tend to gravitate towards positive energy (metaphorically, "light") and avoid negative energy (metaphorically, "dark").  Kim Cameron, who co-founded the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan, says that "all living systems have an inherent tendency towards positivity".  Cameron uses light as a metaphor for positive energy (see his TED talk, "The universality of the heliotropic effect").  

Harry Cohen talks about "heliotropic leadership" in his TED talk (he also coined the phrase, "Be the sun, not the salt").  "Heliotropic leaders" are individuals who are kind, honest, authentic, compassionate, grateful, and positive.  They are the leaders who inspire us, empower us, challenge us, and motivate us to do more than what we thought was possible.  "Heliotropic leaders" are servant leaders and place the needs of their teams and organizations above their own.   

Kim Cameron, writing with Emma Seppälä in a recent Harvard Business Review online article, states that heliotropic leaders' "greatest secret is that, by uplifting others through authentic, values-based leadership, they end up lifting up both themselves and their organizations."  Heliotropic leaders "demonstrate and cultivate virtuous actions, including forgiveness, compassion, humility, kindness, trust, integrity, honesty, generosity, gratitude, and recognition in the organization. As a result, everyone flourishes."

Harry Cohen writes, "Some people are like the sun on our leaves….and others are like salt water poured on our roots! One sustains our life, the other stresses us out!  Hence, Be the Sun, Not the Salt."