Pessimists Can’t Lead
“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.” Joseph Campbell
Pessimists emphasize risk more than ability. They bring up opportunities in ways that make teams feel small.
Pessimists:
- Use what they don’t want to explain what they want.
- Believe discouragement makes people try harder.
- Say, “I don’t want you to fail.” But success goes beyond not failing.
You can’t lead until teams believe change is possible.
Stretch Assignment: Go an entire day without saying what you don’t want and don’t like.
Preventing Failure
Leaders think about failure. You stabilize organizations by protecting gains.
Warren Buffett prevents failure when he says, “Rule #1: Never lose money.”
The Pessimist’s Problem: Preventing failure by itself doesn’t produce stunning success.
Successful leaders instill hope, not discouragement.
5 Ways to Find Optimism:
- Find gratitude. Make a gratitude-list for every teammate. Write five things they’ve done that inspire gratitude. Share your points of gratitude.
- Find praise. Never allow weaknesses to overshadow character and strength. Make a praise-list for every teammate. Write five praiseworthy qualities by each name. Say them in public.
- Find the future. Recycling a negative past builds a dark future. Think about where you’re going more than where you’ve been.
- Find courage. Fear is an opportunity for courage. What will you do to answer fear? Peter Block says, “The Answer to How is Yes.”
- Find competence. The future is built on things they can do, not things they can’t.
Pessimists can’t lead until they offer hope.
Action Item: Do the next bravest thing you can do.
What are the marks of pessimistic leadership? Optimistic leadership?
Restless Optimism Not Toxic Positivity – Leadership Freak
I’ve always moved through life as an unapologetic optimist. Years ago, one of my most insightful bosses required every department to submit a “Plan B” alongside our annual business plan — essentially a thoughtful list of what could reasonably go wrong. At first, I dismissed it as busywork. But over time I realized that the discipline of creating a solid Plan B actually produced a far stronger, more realistic Plan A. _ Your Preventing Failure section called this to mind.
Thanks Ken. It took me many years to appreciate the importance of protecting gains. It’s natural for me to focus on the next thing. That makes it easy to forget the last thing.
This is a great reminder to always approach difficulties with hope. I have always struggled with initially looking at things from a pessimistic view and lately was reminded of that fact. It is now my goal to change my view to be more optimistic; finding what will move my team forward instead of what will hold us back.
Thank you for your reflection, Doug. We’re born with natural tendencies. With work we can tweak them when they don’t serve.