John Baldoni

John Baldoni, Contributor

I write about the impact leaders have on those they lead.

8/16/2012 @ 9:54AM |570 views

Three Cheers for Optimism

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, N...

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, New Bond Street, London. Sculpted by Lawrence Holofcener (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Curmudgeons of the world, unite! The world may be yours. Or will it be?

In the face of the body of literature underscoring the social and emotional benefits of happiness, comes the argument that too much happiness is not good for us.

“Optimism by itself can be dangerous,” writes Frida Ghitis for She urges balance with “common sense, resourcefulness and considered risk taking.” As Ms. Ghitis notes, optimism coupled with “wishful thinking” led Neville Chamberlain to negotiate with Hitler. By contrast optimism coupled with resourcefulness led Franklin Roosevelt led him to mobilize America for the war that ensued as a result of optimism.

Optimism is a leader’s stock in trade. Leaders must be out front of their organizations as FDR was leading the parade when times call for action. They also must believe in the power of the company they lead and in their ability to affect the future.

Good leaders who display optimism, however, are not dreamers. They are realists. When optimism is de-coupled from reality, disaster ensues. It can lead, as Ms. Ghitis writes, to arrogance that leads those at the top do whatever they like. Such was the attitude that prevailed in pre-2008 Wall Street crash.

As my late father, a family physician, always warned, all in moderation. Too much optimism reeks of happy talk and is discounted. At the same time too much seriousness makes for dour countenances and a dispirited workforce. So what’s a leader to do?

Level with people. A leader who views the world as a glass half full is an individual who sees possibilities as well as opportunities. Consider the opposite: the individual who goes around muttering that the sky is falling at the slightest setback. Indeed we need truth tellers and people who are willing to hold their ground but pessimism in a leader is ill suited. It does not inspire followership; it gives rise to grumbling.

And there is something more about optimism. It takes guts to raise a cheer when the chips are down. It is very easy to give into despair when the odds are against you. But if you can stand up, state your case, and in doing so make people believe in the possible then you are worthy of being listened to, and ultimately followed. In a nutshell that is the story of Winston Churchill in 1940 who bucked elders in his own party by refusing to surrender to Nazi Germany. Instead he pursued the harder course and the people backed him.

While I know Churchill from history, I do know leaders who inspire the same kind of gumption. When the challenges are the greatest, they spend their time radiating good cheer. They do it by expressing a belief in the power of the team to achieve its goals. They do this not through speeches but through daily interaction, meeting with people one and one or in small groups listening and learning and when asked to speak talking about what the team can achieve. These leaders know the score but they refuse to give into pessimism.

Optimism must shine through a leader’s intentions but it need not preclude common sense.

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