[December 11, 2013] Senior executive leaders have perpetual optimism. This may appear to be self-evident at first. It may even seem obvious to the accomplished leader. However, a strong and resolute optimism is one of the keys to creating a winning team and successful organization.
I was told many times as a boy playing sports (usually little league baseball) to “get right up when you’re knocked down, dust yourself off, get back into the game, and act like nothing happened.” This was the beginning of teaching us to toughen ourselves against adversity and to learn an attitude of optimism.
“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” – Colin Powell, American General
Optimism is a learned attitude of a winner; it is neither a “happy-happy” mental state nor an ideology. Nevertheless, as an attitude, it is also vulnerable to life’s idiosyncrasies, the difficulties of everyday life. It is the senior leaders’ ability to hold onto that optimism that separates them from others who may lose their optimism under duress.
A strong optimistic attitude is an outlook on life, a can-do natural way of thinking about the future and confidence the future will be a good thing. This positive attitude about all things is infectious, provides motivation, and reduces stress in those who surround the leader.
Senior leaders without an unwavering optimism (there are a few) are not as well respected, nor do they enjoy the same positive work culture. They also do not oversee the same level of organizational successes and their organizations have greater turnover in employees, less satisfaction, and lower employee morale.
An organization with a senior leader with perpetual optimism draws the best employees to their organization because employees will develop a greater trust and confidence in the leader’s abilities, and are more willing to take measured risks.
Successful unwavering optimism in a senior leader must be tempered by their humility, moral courage, and experience judgment. Anything bereft of this will suffer from the tribulations of the trivial, shortage of reasoning, and a lack of context.