Optimistic leadership
There are only two ways to influence human behaviour: you can manipulate it, or you can inspire it. —Simon Sinek
👥 Serves: 11-25 people, 2-10 people, 26-40 people, 41+ people
🎚 Difficulty: Hard
⏳ Total time: Ongoing
🥣 Ingredients: Accountability and an open mind
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Community, Liberatory Learning
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Accountability, Autonomy, Championing, Collaboration, Feedback, Holding space, Inclusion, Inquiry, Reciprocity, Self-directed learning
Optimistic leadership
📝 Description
Instil an organisational culture that values positivity, accountability, and celebration.
Take a moment and think about the most outstanding manager or leader you have spent time with. Perhaps it wasn’t someone in a professional work setting but was instead a fantastic school teacher, art teacher, coach, or camp counsellor. Have you thought of your person? Now, can you pinpoint what it was about this person that inspired you to show up daily and be your best self?
Strong leaders strive to foster an environment that is inclusive, safe, transparent, and honest. They are often individuals who appreciate teamwork, celebrate accomplishments, and offer a clear vision for goals. Excellent leaders are keen to understand their team on varied levels, appreciating their strengths and offering guidance and resources to work on areas that need improvement.
Another trait of a strong leader is the tenacious ability to remain optimistic in times of challenges, crises, and obstacles. Optimism is closely linked to hope, which is a powerful tool for humans, as it helps us to look to the future with a sense of confidence and belief that better days are ahead.
An optimistic leader is someone able to harness adaptability and proactiveness, looking beyond the current challenge, by creating action plans to overcome them. When a leader actively devotes their energy to creating an optimistic leadership style, they are more likely to lead an organisation that is more resilient, successful, creative, and, importantly, less likely to experience burnout.
For example, leaders and team members at Genesis Health System, a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Davenport, Iowa, United States, focussed on implementing positive psychological interventions such as gratitude exercises, increased praise, and conscious acts of kindness to focus increased optimism. The results? Team members prone to experiencing burnout “often” saw a decrease from 11% to 6%. Those who responded having “high stress at work” dropped by 30% and responses for “I feel connected at work” rocketed to 85%.
This recipe has been inspired by the work of Shawn Achor, author and speake, Michelle Gielan, a positive psychology researcher and author, and the writing of Karyn Twaronite, the Global Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusiveness at Ernst & Young, by our well-being content writer collaborator Marissa Del Mistro.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Lead by example (ongoing)
A strong leader is one who leads by example. This means leaders should regularly be present, be enthusiastically involved in gratitude exercises and workshops, and regularly monitor the data and results.
Of course, no one can pour from an empty glass. If your work is consistently experiencing challenges, or emotionally draining, consider implementing or enhancing wellbeing measures specific to the leadership team, in order for them to process these challenges and refill their cup, so they can lead from a place of authentic positivity.
These measures will look different for every organisation but could be in the form of incentives to engage in physical activity to blow off stress, monthly peer counselling and/or mental health days. Check out our recipes “Mental health in the workplace”, “Mental health for employers”, and “Wellbeing at work” for inspiration.
Step 2 – Get everyone involved
To yield the best results, get everyone in the team involved in creating new exercises, plans, and ideas to implement at work. This will allow all team members to have a strong sense of ownership of these changes and a deep understanding of the plans and what needs to be prioritised. This will encourage positive discussion, team building and ideally, lead to inspiration as everyone can contribute what they would like to feel valued and positive. To spark positivity in the team, check out the following recipes: “10 ways to enjoy happiness at work”, “The gratitude alarm”, “Positive gossiping”, and “Positive introductions”.
Step 3 – Consistency and routine when times get tough
It might be easy to implement positive changes – until suddenly, a project reaches a dead end or a new, difficult hurdle is met. Suddenly, the energy and priority shift. Rather than shifting completely, instead focus on mindfully integrating the changes as part of the routine, so it is continued, even when things get harder, without much thought.
Examples of tangible measures to be put into place:
- Monthly team lunches where the focus/conversation is strictly focused on outside of work
- Celebration of birthdays
- Thank you boards in varied departments/office rooms/spaces
- Gratitude notes on individual desks
- Individual recognition such as “____ of the week”
- Regular check-ins
- 1:1 monthly coffees outside of the office space
- Monthly wellbeing day
- Weekly Yoga Class
- Monthly draws for something unique
These may seem like nominal tokens, but they can go an incredibly long way. For example, 39% of individuals surveyed about workplace connection, stated they feel “they belong when their team checks in with them personally and professionally.” These moments enhance the feeling of being valued, appreciated, and connected.
These interactions should come from an empathetic, sincere, and curious place. Here are some questions to connect with a team member: “How are you doing?”, “Is there a way I can support you?”, “Tell me more about ___?”, “How are your children?”, and “Are you still involved in ___?”
If you would like to read more about checking in with team members, check our recipes on “Emotional Quotient (EQ) Check-in” and “Digital check-ins” for online adaptations.
Step 4 – Track changes
Tracking and understanding data results can guide change and ensure targets are being met consistently. To track progress, you can use qualitative and quantitative methods such as employee/client interviews, track quotas or new contracts – these measurements will vary, depending on the nature of your organisation’s work.
Going back to Genesis Medical Centre, after implanting new optimistic leadership ventures within the team, they reached profitability and exceeded their operating budget by 35% going from an operating loss of $2M to a profit of $8M and were formally recognized by Press Ganey in 2019 as “one of nation’s most improved medical centres for performance.”
When work is challenging and bad news feels like the new norm, try to invoke the power of positivity. Opposite to the belief that leaders may appear “tone deaf” by encouraging a focus on positivity amid strife, it can do wonders for the team, help them feel protected, respected, heard, and valued.