“The best leaders are those who drink from the glass that is half full!”
Inspiring leaders are confident, smile and give off energy that influences their teams, energizes them and motivates them to move mountains. They are decisively optimistic, which helps them better support pressure and get through crises and moments of stress. Winston Churchill was always optimistic, regardless of what happened.
How do leaders pull it off and how do we encourage optimism in our organizations? How do we go about finding these people and appointing them to lead projects?
I recently attended a conference on this subject organized by Premières en affaires (http://premieresenaffaires.com/) and McKinsey. Joanna Barsh, author How Remarkable Women Lead, presented the results of five years of studies on women leaders. Her project, which was at first personal and involved finding meaning in her life, soon took on a larger scope encompassing leaders in general. Her purpose was to examine the secret of their success. Notably, the common denominator is optimism. Against the tide, these top-flight leaders never lay down their arms and take on assignments, challenges, difficulties and even crises with optimism. These leaders significantly influence their surroundings and teams, because they are always confident and determined. They never let themselves be dragged down by never-ending spirals of negative thoughts that usually lead to frantic pessimism.
How many projects have been abandoned because the teams were discouraged? How many employees have quit because of the negative atmosphere and lack of prospects? How many times have you come out of meeting with a client or a manager and thought to yourself, “Boy, he (or she) is a real downer!”
We already know that optimists live longer and that smiling and laughing are as good for you as vitamin C.
It is essential to stop a moment and look at our managers. What are their attitudes? How do they communicate with their teams? Do they smile? Are they confident and determined? When you finish a meeting with one of your internal managers, how do you feel? Depressed, as in “I’m never going to find him the perfect candidate, because he’ll scare all of them off,” or “Wow, we have great managers in this company, and this guy or gal is going to form a fantastic team!”? What makes the difference?
By optimism, I don’t mean the naive Alicein Wonderland kind, but the realistic kind. The kind with enough humility to tell things like they are—even when it’s hard—but who are able to provide perspective, direction and potential solutions. Optimistic leaders motivate and rally people around them.
The past two years have treated organizations and managers badly. Those who were able to rebound and see opportunities where others saw threats, however, certainly have in them the grain of optimism that encourages and mobilizes the troops.
How do you spot the pessimists? They have low energy, are often overwhelmed, not inclined to have new ideas, rarely smile and are often alone. A boss who never has lunch with his or her employees, and who rarely communicates outside official channels should trigger your HR manager’s alarm, because although optimism is contagious, so is pessimism.
Optimists can be recognized by their appetite for change—they are not scared of new things and accept other ideas and points of view. They are full of energy and a contagious enthusiasm, and importantly, they are action oriented, firmly turned towards the future. They talk to their teams, whatever the difficulty.
Here are 10 good reasons for hiring optimistic leaders and cultivating and developing optimism in employees:
1 – Optimists are healthier and less stressed (according to studies, they are less prone to strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes, so they reduce your insurance costs).
2 – Generally speaking, they succeed better (so the company automatically benefits).
3 – They are more active and encourage initiative (thereby fostering entrepreneurship).
4 – They like their clients and employees (and this is reciprocated).
5 – They have trust in and inspire other people (excellent for clients, investors and their teams).
6 – They make people feel like doing (they are motivating, lead by example, and are the best cure for sluggishness).
7 – They are superb ball carriers (give them a difficult project and see them transform it into an incredible business opportunity).
8 – They are seemingly Teflon coated (therefore resist better to internal and competitive attacks, and able to stand up to everything).
9 – They are true talent attraction and development machines (and in these times of labour scarcity, an optimist is a true talent magnet!).
10 – They are not alone! Optimists like to surround themselves with other optimists, which creates a bandwagon effect. They develop their internal and external networks and are the best ambassadors for your company.
To read from the most optimistic person in France: Philippe GabillietÉloge de l’optimisme, or check out the video www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFlz3wTCXIU
Also Terry l. Paulson, The Optimism Advantage: 50 Simple Truths to Transform Your Attitudes and Actions into Results, Wiley, 2010.
Nathalie Francisci, CHRP
Board Director, Speaker and Colomnist