Oklahoma City Consultant Encourages Leaders To Focus On Workers' Good Results

By Paula Burkes Business Writer pburkes@oklahoman.comHave you ever taken a vacation with a leader? If you did, there's some telltale signs, Oklahoma City leadership consultant Nathan Mellor says. Leaders might come away from a day at Disneyland, for example, and say, “That was nice, but if they did this and this, it'd be better,” said Mellor, noting leaders similarly critique movies. “Leaders,” he said, “tend to see the negatives first, thinking if there are no problems, they're not needed.” But psychologists, workplace researchers and Oklahoma City employers have learned that focusing on workers' strengths, versus their weaknesses, leads to process improvements and overall success, he said. Mellor, the chief executive of Strata Leadership and Principal Technologies staffing firm — who holds master's and doctorate degrees in dispute resolution and organizational leadership from Pepperdine University — spoke at an Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium luncheon Wednesday at the Oklahoma City Petroleum Club. “I've found telling people they don't have character doesn't help,” Mellor said, drawing guffaws from the packed ballroom. “People who don't know the expectations have a difficult time thriving, because they don‘t know how to succeed,” he said. Mellor applauded Oklahoma City-based AAR Corp., now the world's No.Read more on NewsOK.com