Amp Up Your Optimism

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The only people who move the world are the ones who believe they can. It’s the same for big companies and significant achievements in life: Optimism is a force all its own. 

A man I worked with years ago used to say, “If I don’t truly believe it, why should I expect anyone else will? I know in my bones what I can do — what *we* can do — but part of my job is really conveying that. If they can’t get on board, they won’t be around long.”

Sounds harsh, but it was incredibly successful. He was a believer. He didn’t want pessimists at the table or in his company. He could have discussions and critiques, but he wanted to find ways to *do* things, not hear people’s negativity. He didn’t want it, and he didn’t model it. 

He ran a company that kept setting new bars and hitting them. He expected a lot, and his teams performed. He hired smartly (most of the time) and fired those who poisoned the well. If you talked to his team, they were inspired and motivated. They believed — not just because of the vision he had — but because they believed in him. They saw it and they felt it: his optimism, his confidence, and his enthusiasm balanced with gravitas. It was infectious. They took him seriously, he conveyed his vision, and he wanted people on board who were believers too. People who felt like they were all on the same ambitious team. 

No matter what seat you’re in, you’ll find that this level of optimism will benefit you…and it benefits your team in ways that don’t just “feel” good. It’s quantifiable.

Study after study shows that revenue and performance follow optimistic mental positioning. Optimists do better in their careers than pessimists. They get promoted at higher rates; they have better money management; their teams perform better, and even when we look granularly at positions like “sales,” we see that they significantly outperform their pessimistic peers. 

Optimism is a disposition but it’s also a choice…while you don’t want to get lost in blind optimism, effective optimism changes the game. This may not come naturally to you, and that’s absolutely fine. 

Here are methods for you to think about, position, and amp up the cascading impacts effective optimism has on your business, your career, the people around you, and the bottom line.