Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
You know, one of the things that a lot of people
talk about today when you bring up the topic of attributes of leadership
is positive attitude, and I agree with that. I think it is an extremely important aspect
to be mastered in a leader. However, I find that there is some misunderstanding
about the term, and let me explain what I mean.
There is the delusional optimist, who is the one who says, no matter what happens,
your house burns down, let´s say, and they'll say,
“Don’t worry, there are lots of houses out on the market that you can find, so I’m
sure you'll find a nice house”. No matter what happens, they have a smile
on their face, and they tell you the most positive things.
Well, that to me is one of the worst approaches for a leader, and the reason is this:
people will never believe somebody who they feel is detached from reality.
Now here, in my view, is what a positive attitude looks like in
leadership in 21st century: a leader with a positive attitude is one
that accepts the challenge, accepts the problem, realizes it, recognizes it,
but then charts a course out of it. Something like this:
“I realize that this is going to be very difficult for us,
I realize it’s going to be a challenge of huge proportions,
and it’s going to be hard. But I know we're going to get through it,
because here's what we're going to do, and then they lay out the path.”
Now, that's someone I can get behind, that's somebody I can believe in, and I think
that is a good demonstration of what a positive
attitude, connected with reality, looks like.
Till next time, I’m Pepper de Callier.