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Cultivate Realistic and Infectiously Optimistic Leadership
Life calls us to lead from kindergarten to our deathbed.
Optimism helps you function better as a leader.
At the Centre for Optimism, we work around self-leadership, self-empowered leadership and infectious optimism.
A popular mantra for our supporters and workshop participants is “The Leader looks like the person in My Mirror.”
Try this Experiment: The next meeting you lead, go around the table asking each person what makes them optimistic.
Don't spring it on the group. You can put it on the agenda so they can reflect beforehand. If you don't have an agenda, let them know you'll do this in a few minutes.
Take your time, don’t rush. If someone doesn’t feel ready to express themselves, let them take a pass.
If they ask, don't limit it to optimism about work or the company.
I have conducted this exercise for Boards, Executive Groups, Conferences, Leadership Groups, Prisoners in Prisons, Universities, Schools and Refugee Groups. It is very powerful and positive.
On one occasion, a businessman assembled a group of business acquaintances to support a friend who had suffered a tragic accident. It took us 90 minutes to get around the table with inspiring stories that many had never told before.
As I wrote earlier, I interviewed the global leader of positive psychology, Professor Martin Seligman, on what makes him optimistic.
On the point of personal leadership, Martin said, “The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events will last a long time, will undermine everything they do, and are their own fault. The optimists, who are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world, think about misfortune in the opposite way.”
“They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case. The optimists believe defeat is not their fault: Circumstances, bad luck, or other people brought it about. Such people are unfazed by defeat. Confronted by a bad situation, they perceive it as a challenge and try harder.”
Social psychologists Lise Solberg and Suzanne Segerstrom found that optimists were more likely to take charge and find ways to solve their problems than pessimists. They chose coping strategies such as seeking emotional support, drawing on spiritual resources, or becoming more accepting of their situation. They also decided not to run away from their problems.
Research by leading head-hunting firms finds infectious optimism as the key trait to success in leadership.
In sales, excellent studies show that optimistic salespeople and agents, on average, sell far more than pessimists.
In medicine, studies show on average optimistic doctors make better diagnoses.
When you recruit, recruit optimists.
What the optimist lacks in job-specific skills, they can acquire through their enthusiasm and application.
If interviewing, ask the question of the candidate for the job, what makes you optimistic? How do you infect others with your optimism? If preparing to be interviewed, prepare yourself to answer those questions.
As Sally Foley-Lewis told me, “Bringing more optimism into workplaces aligns with improving workplace cultures that lead to less staff-turnover, higher productivity and profits. Optimism can start from reframing an attitude or viewpoint from mistrust or concern to most people want to do well and most people want to get along, be engaged and be a valuable contributor.”
In my work with the Australian Leadership Project, it was clear that optimistic leaders have a clear advantage in the Australian culture and beyond.
My subsequent research and interviews have established this is a global human phenomenon.
The zeitgeist in the developed world is pessimistic and cynical. Yet, the times call for realistic and infectiously optimistic leadership.
The post-pandemic 2020s lends itself to leaders who can generate optimism in their teams.
The best leaders are infectious optimists and lead their teams to discover greater optimism, resilience and self-mastery.
The 2022 global example of generating a national spirit of optimism is Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
When the American Government offered to evacuate his family and him, he said, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”
CNN’s Fareed Zakaria asked President Zelenskyy about his optimism. The President said, “Why it is so optimistic is that we have a very profound faith in ourselves And a very profound faith in the west, a profound faith in people.”
In my country, professionally and looking beyond their home environment, Australians are increasingly pessimistic when looking at corporations, institutions, the nation, the world and the future of work. Similar results ring true of much of the developed world.
I recently led an hour of optimism for the suburban Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce. The founder of Team Kids, Sam Hoath, told us, “I think a fundamental reason my business has been quite successful is that I always see the opportunity in things. I always see the brightest side of things. And I think what happens is that optimism becomes infectious in a good way. It provides hope and it provides positivity. And I think the culture in any organization is the most important thing. And if you can share optimism, then that promotes healthy culture positive culture. And I think that’s a key ingredient for success, no matter what you’re looking to do.”
Many economic surveys purport to measure optimism on a weekly and monthly basis. While shallow, I take from these surveys that optimism is the lifeblood of a growing economy. Silicon Valley and Israel thrive on the optimism of their entrepreneurs and innovators.
We’re not talking about being a Pollyanna, although being Pollyannish does have its virtues in supporting ambition and passion. The New York fashion designer Anna Sui who said: “When I was a kid, my favourite movie was Pollyanna because she was the ultimate optimist. I wanted that optimism, that dreaming of the possibilities."
In our corporate and institutional work, we ask senior leaders to open up conversations right across the business on what makes the team members optimistic.
I spoke with a Singapore businessman frustrated that the effect of his Monday morning pep talks to his sales team appeared to have worn off by Monday lunchtime. I suggested he change one of his Monday morning meetings to include an opening question from each of his sales team expressing their case for optimism. It worked! He has made it a monthly ritual at sales meetings.
So, what should you do if the leader looks like the person in your mirror?
Ask yourself, “what makes me optimistic?”
Ask your family what makes them optimistic.
Ask your workmates what makes them optimistic.
Write: Write down your arguments for infectiously optimistic leadership. Speak them out loud.
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