Perpetual Optimism is a Force Multiplier
In my experience, organizations have a tendency to dwell on the negatives. How many coffee bar discussions have you run into or have been part of - where the basic theme was “why we are not doing things right” or “why this manager / executive is totally screwed up”? Surely many more than the ones which talk about the company wins or what the organizations are doing right.
As I think back on this, there are three things I believe I have learnt…
1. Negative news travels much faster than positive news: Have you seen how sales “loss” stories are known by more people faster than the “win” stories? How some negative press about your company is on more desktops of your employees than positive press? You would think there is almost a salacious side to all of us that focuses on the “gossipy” side of events for this to happen. Organizations behave as if negative news is more “urgent” than positive news.
2. “My self-worth is tied to how I can prove others are screwed up”: I believe when people – in a work as well as a social environment – engage in pointing out how and why things are screwed up, there is an inherent human psychology working that is trying to portray that “I know better”. I also believe that there is a side of us that is convinced that others will think that we “know more” if we can show the imperfections than if we talk about the perfections.
3. Positive people have a remarkable effect: Although rare, I have indeed come across people who can always see the brighter side of things. Who can focus on the things that are going right. And I am not talking about “spin” marketing. Though such leaders are few and far between, people tend to agree that such people are “better” leaders than your run of the mill ones.
This is probably a great pointer to many of us who aspire to become great leaders some day and leave a mark in this world. I loved it the way Colin Powell put it – “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier”. My personal experience has been that it takes time to get organizations to share your level of optimism. But you can do that by being sincere, acknowledging that there is work to be done but repeatedly focusing on the wins. Once you do that, organizations grow a natural tendency to follow you as a leader.
In a previous environment that I worked, where we were clearly losing path as a company, it was remarkable to note how the “optimistic” leadership statements, while bought by rank and file initially, was quickly seen to be spin and insincere since that is exactly what they were. Ever since, I am convinced, that as a leader, you first establish your sincerity – then focus on the positives. That is an amazing combination that can energize organizations. The “can do” attitude is very infectious. Once the leader exudes it, the whole organization exudes it.
I would like to end by quoting from Colin Powell again which best articulates my theory on this topic…
The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues. I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a "what, me worry?" smile. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the "realist," give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this. Or what your experience has been.
Rajib
As I think back on this, there are three things I believe I have learnt…
1. Negative news travels much faster than positive news: Have you seen how sales “loss” stories are known by more people faster than the “win” stories? How some negative press about your company is on more desktops of your employees than positive press? You would think there is almost a salacious side to all of us that focuses on the “gossipy” side of events for this to happen. Organizations behave as if negative news is more “urgent” than positive news.
2. “My self-worth is tied to how I can prove others are screwed up”: I believe when people – in a work as well as a social environment – engage in pointing out how and why things are screwed up, there is an inherent human psychology working that is trying to portray that “I know better”. I also believe that there is a side of us that is convinced that others will think that we “know more” if we can show the imperfections than if we talk about the perfections.
3. Positive people have a remarkable effect: Although rare, I have indeed come across people who can always see the brighter side of things. Who can focus on the things that are going right. And I am not talking about “spin” marketing. Though such leaders are few and far between, people tend to agree that such people are “better” leaders than your run of the mill ones.
This is probably a great pointer to many of us who aspire to become great leaders some day and leave a mark in this world. I loved it the way Colin Powell put it – “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier”. My personal experience has been that it takes time to get organizations to share your level of optimism. But you can do that by being sincere, acknowledging that there is work to be done but repeatedly focusing on the wins. Once you do that, organizations grow a natural tendency to follow you as a leader.
In a previous environment that I worked, where we were clearly losing path as a company, it was remarkable to note how the “optimistic” leadership statements, while bought by rank and file initially, was quickly seen to be spin and insincere since that is exactly what they were. Ever since, I am convinced, that as a leader, you first establish your sincerity – then focus on the positives. That is an amazing combination that can energize organizations. The “can do” attitude is very infectious. Once the leader exudes it, the whole organization exudes it.
I would like to end by quoting from Colin Powell again which best articulates my theory on this topic…
The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues. I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a "what, me worry?" smile. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the "realist," give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this. Or what your experience has been.
Rajib
posted by Rajib Roy | 6:55 AM
4 Comments:
Great post!
In the Corps we used different terms that I believe describe these concepts more completely.
Instead of optimism, we spoke of morale. Morale is the state of one's mind that dispositions them to take positive action despite circumstance (optimism or pessimism). It is measured by acts, not the mental state.
We spoke of Integrity, of which sincerity is a part. Integrity is the harmony of one's ideals, behavior, and habits. It shapes the character and determines one's destiny. It is measured by consistent (integral) acts over time, not by one's intention.
Great post!
In the Corps we used different terms that I believe describe these concepts more completely.
Instead of optimism, we spoke of morale. Morale is the state of one's mind that dispositions them to take positive action despite circumstance. It is measured by acts, not the mental state.
We spoke of Integrity, of which sincerity is a part. Integrity is the harmony of one's ideals, behavior, and habits. It shapes the character and determines one's destiny. It is measured by consistent (integral) acts over time, not by one's intention.
Gaining trust of your followers, whether it is your employees or your customers, definitely comes before being optimistic and motivating or inspiring them to listen to you and follow you. However...
a) Results matter a lot - a great leader who is trusted by everyone will lose trust after repeated failures. Everybody has a certain degree of patience, the stronger people will have more, but at some point, people are no longer optimistic, and they will start wanting quicker results. Its a vicious circle. So leaders have to be careful. When they generate optimism in the organization, it should be limited to some extent based on ability and resources to execute also ( I am not saying be conservative or realistic - its difficult to know when one slips from realism to pessimism - so leaders should stay deeply optimistic). Also, leaders need to put their money where their mouth is.
b) Younger the organization, lesser the patience. In troubled times, you want most of your leaders to be mature, patient, and strong - all the way in the hierarchy. Communication needs increase in troubled times - clear communication of plans and the current status - this reduces gossip and rumors.
c) CXO level should be careful in curtailing 'spin' marketing by the senior/middle management in the organization. Even a few people doing this can lead a lot of the organization losing trust in the entire management.
d) When downsizing, you have to maintain the ratio of leaders and worker bees in the organization. Its a natural tendency to hold back all your leaders and potential leaders and let go of the worker bees which can be easily reassembled if needed. This leads to the problem of everybody trying to lead and change things around - and few people really following, because each leader is pulling the organization in a different direction, and thus leading to no real movement.
Hi Rajib:
It is great to take a peek into your brain with your Blog.
We miss your "From the desk of Rajib Roy". It is good to find similar content here.
With this post I remembered some of our "team conversations" about things that were not going good.
To give this topic a spiritual angle - they say Saraswati sits on your tongue at least once every day and whatever you say becomes true. With this, if you say good things all day through, the probability of good things happening to you would be higher. Your words today (+/-) shape your future to a great extent. Also, It is a leader's prime job to add positive energy around him/her through his/her own words/actions.
Cheers,
Hitesh.
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