Episode 223 - The Leader’s Mindset - Part Three - Optimistic Outlook

Summary 

We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this third of a five part series, we explore Optimistic Outlook and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode 223 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. In this third of a five part series, we explore Optimistic Outlook and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset.

We are continuing to explore The Leader’s Mindset which has four elements: Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for Growth. I encourage you to listen to the two previous episodes first and also take the time to complete our free Mindset to Action assessment. This provides detailed feedback on all four areas along with development suggestions. Just go to https://leadership.today/mta 

When I talk about mindsets, the most common one that people think of is optimism and pessimism. Optimism has lots of positive benefits, particularly when you combine it with the three elements of hope theory covered in the Mindset to Action assessment. Combining the two overcomes the main shortcoming of optimism, which is its lack of direction and momentum. Just looking at the world in a positive way and expecting good things to happen doesn’t take you anywhere - you need clear goals, openness to options, and the drive to push you forward. 

Continuing our journey metaphor, Optimistic Outlook is like the perspective you bring to the journey. A person with an Optimistic Outlook thinks positively about the future, expecting things to go their way. They see the future as positive. A person without an Optimistic Outlook mindset focuses on the negatives and what can go wrong. They anticipate more bad things to happen than good things.

I’m often asked if it’s possible to have too much optimism. The research suggests this is the case, but that it’s pretty rare. For example, with extremely high levels of optimism I may be reluctant to take personal responsibility when things go wrong. What is more common is so-called toxic positivity, which describes a culture where people only focus on the positive and ignore challenges, criticisms and issues. The Leader’s Mindset is all about tackling challenges and making progress, therefore avoiding this potential trap. 

The Mindset to Action report provides five ways of building and maintaining an Optimistic Outlook.

  1. Gratitude Journal: Write down three new things that you are grateful for each day. This will help you to focus on the positive things happening around you that are so easy to miss. Before long, you will have trained yourself to focus more on the positive than the negative in your work and life. 

  2. Consider the Three P’s: Martin Seligman describes three ways in which optimists and pessimists think differently in both good and bad situations - personal, permanent and pervasive. 

    • When things go wrong, an Optimistic Outlook involves: 

      • Personal - not automatically blaming ourselves, but rather accepting the outside forces that have contributed to the situation 

      • Permanent - not extending the bad situation out, but realistically appreciating that this will pass and that other good things are probably happening 

      • Pervasive - not extending the challenging event to all aspects of our life, but rather compartmentalising it to one aspect of our life 

    • When things go right, an Optimistic Outlook includes: 

      • Personal - seeing the role that we played in achieving a good outcome 

      • Permanent - extending out the good result over time, and making sure we reflect on the good things that are happening in our lives 

      • Pervasive - using the good result to flow into other aspects of our life

  3. Tame How You Speak To Yourself: Often the way we speak to ourselves is not very kind. When things go wrong we can quickly become our own worst critic. If a friend spoke to us the way we speak to ourselves in those moments, they probably wouldn’t be a friend for very long. Instead, be generous and kind to yourself. Speak to yourself as a supportive friend. 

  4. Reframe Challenges as Opportunities for Growth: When we expand our horizons and try new things, we build optimism and resilience. Sure, we might make mistakes or find new things hard - that’s to be expected. See these minor setbacks as chances to become wiser, stronger and more capable.

Why not pick one of these to practice over the coming week? In the next episode we are going to explore Options Thinking. Have a great week as you become an even better leader.

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