Optimism is a Leadership Imperative

Optimism is a leadership imperative. It unites those you lead while building a culture of resilience.

The day you stop being an Optimist is the day you become irrelevant. Your capacity to envision change, and therefore drive it, diminishes. You step out of the arena and become a sideline critic. For those who remain in the arena this means you no longer count.

This choice you make is a conscious one and has nothing to do with your age. Being an Optimist means you believe that your, and humanity’s, capacity to solve problems is larger than our capacity to create them.

As long as you hold this belief you remain part of the solution, ignore anyone who tells you otherwise as they were never going to be part of the solution anyway.

“It is not the critic who counts.”

A better Optimist in 7 steps

If you’re still reading after that intro it means you’re more interested in solving problems than complaining about them. Regardless of your job title, this means you’re a leader.

These are my 7 foolproof tips to view that 🥛 as half full and become a better leader in the process.

7 steps to being a better Optimist:

1. Decide to be an Optimist

2. Keep a “Pessimism Journal”

3. Understand Optimism is rational

4. Be an active Optimist

5. Lead by example

6. Recognize Optimism is a lifelong commitment

7. Surround yourself with other Optimists

Decide to be an Optimist

Like most things in life the best way to get started is to re-align your identity with that of what you hope to be. If you believe you are an Optimist, then you will become one.

I like to think of myself as a relentless Optimist. Because this is core to my identity it not only influences the way I see the world, but also has a positive impact on my health.

There’s not much more to say on tip #1. Choose to be an Optimist and then act accordingly.

Keep a “Pessimism Journal”

There’s no such thing as a perfect Optimist. No matter how hard we might try to cultivate a glass half full approach to life, doubt inevitably rears it’s ugly, lying head.

That’s what your “Pessimism Journal” is for. As soon as you feel that pessimism creeping in, write it down.

I might get fired.

Someone might ask a question I don’t have the answer to.

Everyone might realize I’m under qualified.

I may fail which would be embarrassing.

It never surprises me how cathartic getting pessimistic thoughts out of the mind and onto paper is. As soon as I write them, they aren’t so scary. Even if the pessimistic outcome comes to pass, chances are you’ll get another shot at it. Just keep going.

Understand Optimism is rational

Hans Rosling and Kevin Kelly are two of my favorite Optimists. Read any of their writing on technology / global development or watch one of their TED talks and you’ll see that being an Optimist isn’t only the recommended way to view the world it’s also the correct one.

Kelly says it best, “Good takes longer than a news cycle. So most news, in any media, even responsible ones, is bad news. If newspapers and websites were only updated every 50 years, they might report: literacy is up, longevity increased, violence is down.”

Be an active Optimist

Often when I talk about Optimism I’m met with skepticism. People are quick to point out all of the bad in the world as evidence that we should be pessimists. Hogwash.

Being an Optimist doesn’t mean I close my eyes and pretend everything is alright. Nor does it mean that I assume we’ll reach some utopian state of bliss where all struggle is removed from the world. Our optimism should always be rational and active.

Being an active Optimist is simple. It means two things:

1. You believe that bad things will happen, but your capacity to solve them is abundant

2. When dealt a poor hand the best option is to get to work

You have agency, you are capable, focus on high quality inputs, do the work. That’s it.

Lead by example

This is a newsletter about leadership so it’s worth noting here that Optimism is contagious. I’m not talking about living in an ivory tower while the rest of your team is in the arena doing the work.

I mean be there with them, pull the rope so that your team sees you assess the challenges ahead of you rationally, but that you work toward solving them with vigor.

Recognize that Optimism is a lifelong commitment

There is no more pernicious belief in life than expecting things will be easy. You will catch bad breaks, people will treat you unfairly, things will go wrong.

Open yourself to these things so that you can deal with the world as it is. Realize that the game of life you find yourself in is an infinite one. You can’t win, but you can keep playing. You can keep playing with Optimism.

The reward for good work is more work. Accept that, move on, keep going.

Surround yourself with other Optimists

Optimism is a team sport. The great aphorism is true here, “if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.” We just agreed that Optimism is a lifelong commitment which means we are going far.

While pessimists will always rear their ugly heads (sometimes within your own mind) having a network of Optimists to call, text, or chat with will help reorient you within your own capacity (which I promise you is greater than you expect).

I am fortunate to have many friends, family, and mentors who taught me to be an Optimist. When I am in a tough spot and give them a call they don’t tell me that everything is going to be okay. But they do remind me that I have the capacity to endure, persist, and act.

For an Optimist, that’s all the reminder you’ll ever need.