A good question asked of me, "Why are you passionate about Optimism?
The passion for optimism dates back about five years, and the positivity a lifetime.
In 2017, we had completed a two-year study on Australian leadership (The Australian Leadership Project) and remained bewildered by the negativity towards leadership.
My Eureka moment came in late 2017, speaking at the Global Integrity Summit. It was the last session, and I put the case for optimism in otherwise bleak proceedings. The effect was electric, and people told me to turn the speech into a book. One of those people was Helen Clark, then UNDP head and former Prime Minister of New Zealand.
The revelation was, "It's not the leaders; it's a fog of pessimism enveloping our public discourse."
In Australia, New Zealand and many parts of the so-called developed world, a mindset of pessimism in our corporate, government and media communications. The "news" spreads the worst news about everything, so "well-informed" people think it's logical to be pessimistic. Yet, as optimism underpins innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity, pessimism is an inhibitor to personal, national and global growth.
As I interviewed people for the book, my questioning became better and better attuned. What I was after was uncovering the personal causes of optimism. If we want better leadership, we need to help people discover their source of optimism.
Finally, the core question, the opening question, became "What makes you optimistic?"
I was fortunate enough to bounce that question off the guru of positive psychology, Professor Martin Seligman. Martin told me I had nailed 40 years of positive psychology research on that question. Given that his most recent book was called Hope, he cheekily commended a longer query: "What makes you optimistic? What gives you hope?"
I started to experiment with sowing the seeds of new habits for people.