Castellers (human towers) are a Catalan social phenomenon that represent the best qualities about teamwork.
Purpose
Teams in fast growth industries or high performance cultures thrive when they are engaged, able to drive change, and continuously strive to bring their best. Yet, most team leaders feel frustrated with a lack of guidance and support for better serving their teams.
In fact, only 35% of managers feel engaged and only 20% of employees say they’re managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work (Gallup). Many team leads simply feel as though they don’t have the time or resources to develop themselves and their teams. And frankly, many learning solutions are dull, impersonal, and very little gets applied.
I believe that every leader deserves to have access to cutting-edge strategies and evidence-based tools for raising their team’s motivation and resilience. I believe that every team has untapped potential for greater collaboration, effectiveness, and growth. And I know that just the right solution can create immediately meaningful results.
Positive Work equips leaders to unleash the power of their teams to reach new heights.
Giselle Timmerman, MAPP
Founder
Giselle has 17+ years of experience partnering with clients, from founders to Fortune 500 teams, to build stronger leadership and team cultures for greater engagement and competitive performance. She was one of the first 30 people in the world to study with Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, and has applied the science since ‘05 to improve people’s working lives.
As founder of Positive Work, Giselle manages, creates, and delivers experiences for high performance, employee-centric organizations. When needed, she collaborates with two partner companies for projects at scale.
Giselle is also Professor of Managing Change & Healthy Organizations, Professional Development, and Positive Leadership at EAE Business School. Plus, she is honored to serve thousands of global members in a 6-year leadership role with the International Positive Psychology Association’s Work Division.
Giselle’s early career was shaped by a decade in strategy and management consulting. This experience developed her passion for working at the intersection of strategy, leadership, and psychology.
Giselle earned her Masters degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelors degrees from New York University. She’s originally from the American Southwest and lives in Barcelona with her husband and two girls.
Lara Bauer
Client Experience Associate
Lara is a passionate about positive psychology, management, and thriving organizations. She supports Positive Work on a variety of client engagements and internal projects to bring fresh perspective to content and maximize client experience.
Driven by a positive, critical, goal-oriented, and learning attitude, Lara has obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Hotel Management from Hotelschool The Hague and is currently studying a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management.
Lara has worked in several organizations on projects to strengthen client service and experience, including successfully implementing the well-renowned TakeCare wellbeing program from Marriott.
Lara is a Spanish-German who grew up in Belgium and fluently speaks Spanish, German, English, French, and Italian.
Videos of purpose in action.
Highlights from a workshop, How to Lead with Your Strengths.
Intro to a workshop for entrepreneurs & team leaders, Teaming for Happiness.
Preview of an event, How to Create a Positive Work Culture.
Full conference presentation, The Art & Science of Positive Interventions at Work, Positive Psychology in Practice Conference, Utrecht.