Category Archive: pessimism

3 Hard-and-Fast Rules for Dealing with Negative People

Negative people stir the slop and smell the same stink over and over. It’s exhausting.   3 hard-and-fast rules for dealing with negative people: #1. The three-time rule: It’s your responsibility when Dark… Continue reading

A Simple Practice that Yields Disproportionate Advantage

“Half the leaders I have met don’t need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop.” Peter Drucker Bad is an erasure. One dingbat behavior erases many noble behaviors.… Continue reading

The Leader who Smells Dead Mice

I smell dead mice everywhere. It all started with a dead mouse in the wall. I thought I smelled a dead mouse in the grocery store. I bought a hot dog for lunch… Continue reading

7 Ways to Help People Pivot from Negative to Positive

To get the ball rolling at the beginning of presentations, I share my cellphone number and ask people to text me fun questions. Serious questions come later. 2 fun questions I recently received:… Continue reading

How Unhappy People Lead

I prefer happiness to sadness. But what if sadness is an asset? Unhappy leaders: Martin Luther King Jr. tried to commit suicide twice before he was 13. (Time) (Winston Churchill’s) creative-depressive personality meant… Continue reading

How to Rise Above Pessimism and Lead Optimistically

If you’re a pessimist, the only thing worse than dying young is living a long miserable life. Pessimistic leaders focus on faults and weaknesses. Success with people requires optimism. You choose: Think of… Continue reading