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Michelle Gibbings on Optimism
In 2019 I had the opportunity to interview author Michelle Gibbings on Australian Leadership and her Optimism. You can read the full interview "The richness of Australia’s cultural diversity" - Michelle Gibbings on Australian Leadership and her Optimism."
In the course of the interview, I asked Michelle, "what makes you optimistic? What's the case for optimism?"
Michelle Gibbings: Optimism is about how you look at life and how you approach problems. Do you focus on the negatives, or when things go badly, do you look for the learnings and seek to reframe the situation? Taking this approach doesn’t mean you ignore how you feel or that you don’t experience stress, sadness or hurt. It’s about how you respond to it.
I love the quote from the famous Roman Emperor and philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, who said: “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment”.
Resilient people can do that. They can recognise what’s created the ‘bad day’, reframe what it means, and adapt to the changed circumstances.
Leaders need to be able to do this and provide the best environment so that their team can do the same.
Some of the things I do to help maintain a positive and healthy outlook include:
- Being more mindful – take the time to stop, breath, reflect and then respond to the event which caused the stress rather than react to it
- Searching for options – when you are faced with an unwelcome situation, work through the options and what decisions you can and can’t make. Feeling like you have a choice as to your response puts you in a more positive state.
- Accepting what you can’t change – we can’t control or influence everything, so be clear on what you can’t control and focus your energy on what you can control and influence
- Helping others - helping others in need helps you realise the positive forces in your life and is a key part of leading a happy and healthy life.
- Finding purpose in life – people with purpose are happier and more resilient as they are clear about their goals and where they are heading in life.
Michelle Gibbings is a change leadership and career expert and founder of Change Meridian. She is the Author of ‘Step Up: How to Build Your Influence at Work and ‘Career Leap: How to Reinvent and Liberate your Career’. For more information: www.michellegibbings.com or contact michelle@michellegibbings.com.
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