We are facing dire straits, living on the brink of an ongoing climate crisis (Worland, 2020), and desperately seeking ways for more effective and sustainable living. Leaders offer a golden opportunity to influence a more positive future at school and in workplaces. Today, more than ever, we need positive leaders. This research aimed to identify the common mindsets, behaviours and resources of positive leaders from literature and practice.

We took a deductive approach to our research. In step 1, we reviewed the last 20 years of positive psychology research; its prevalence of topics; and their impact on individuals, organisations, and society. We drew on our research and professional experiences in the hundreds of workplaces we have worked within or consulted for. In step 2, we reviewed the literature for each one of the topics and explored its application in leadership. We included research that related to either leaders, organisations, or their team members.  In step 3, we narrowed down the themes and created the six-element ALIGHT model. ALIGHT is an acronym that stands for abundance, limberness, inspiration, grand design, health, and tribe.  In step 4, to best illustrate the diverse and cross-sector application of the model, we then interviewed eight extraordinary ordinary leaders across a range of sectors and explored their perspectives and reflections on leadership prac­tice. We analysed these interviews using a deductive thematic analysis approach that provided evidence of practice for the ALIGHT elements of our positive leader­ship (PL) model.

PL is made up of six resources that can be further broken down into 18 core components that leaders with these resources showcase, demonstrate and develop. PL is a set of resources that all leaders can tap into to be more effective. The ALIGHT model that guides leaders through six fundamental resources that can alight their own and their team’s motivation and transform their performance to an extraordinary level.