Why is optimism a key value to develop?
2013 article revamped with a new illustration from PEK
It is the expression of the positive mental health of your team and your company in this gloomy and uncertain period, finally this pessimistic vision ... Although real and economic, the negative anchoring in "the crisis" is also a limiting belief .
Optimism is a positive philosophy, a permanent battle against pessimism and fatality, an obligation to play that I give myself for life and that I distill in all my training programs, teaching in large schools or in conferences. In my training, I see some trainees arriving with the desire to work on their optimism, some are already optimistic by nature and energize the group, and others may have resistance, so the pessimism / optimism tug of war begins ... He there is no age for this type of control… There are above all beliefs and fears at the base of pessimism, a passive or negative attitude, a grumpy, rigid, generalizing behavior and resistant to self-learning .
Training on competence and at the same time acting on optimism is a high-level mission of leadership, assertion and humor. If optimism is constantly maintained, everything is more accessible: competence, transmission of knowledge, change, challenges and ambitious projects, motivation, communication, personal development, happiness!
Optimism gains by force of positive energy, resistant people are grateful for this and admit the traps they fall into regardless of their level in the company. This positive thinking is the only possibility to overcome the difficulties and the pressure, at the collective level and at the individual level.
The pessimistic Coué method also works ...
In times of crisis, companies rationalize costs, the government seeks to pay off debts, while all the dynamics come from confidence, optimism and morale!
The anxiety-provoking circle begins as follows: declaration of the report of the crisis, public announcement, panic, loss of confidence, rationalization, fear, protection of the comfort zone, rigidity of strategies and behaviors, homogeneously applied processes, individualistic efforts that are sometimes oversized to keep up what they have learned ...
When your company measures growth by indicators of the stock market, figures and psycho-social risks, what is the morale of your troops? Have the leaders done a motivation audit?
As an anecdote, in personal development, I tell these two real stories: “People were found frozen to death in a cold room, with visible frostbite ... Except that it turned out that the cooling system was broken and that the temperature was 19 ° ”. "On the other hand, a mother and her child were found alive on a raft after 10 days of survival, when they had little chance of getting by without food ..."
What if you develop optimism?
Driving motivation and mental well-being for your teams. Impacted by the current pressure, have you managed to keep your optimism intact, if not what are you doing to develop it?
Optimism develops positive leadership based on trust, letting go in relation to anxiety-inducing indicators, empathy and constant listening, embodied by a leader or manager, optimist himself, or in any case who works there, because it's a daily personal development! This implies that this manager evolves at the behavioral level to improve his leadership and his management style.
An optimistic team is a confident, productive, smiling team, who communicates, who knows how to make decisions, anticipate, act in the moment, manage pressure and have moments of relaxation, face uncertainty, which is found with fun and not just through corporate social networks.
An optimistic person transforms failure into experience, constraint into opportunity, doubt into reflection, the problem into solutions and naturally develops his self-esteem and that of others ...
How to spot a lack of optimism in your teams?
- lack or loss of confidence
- problems felt in management
- lack of kindness
- unfounded rumors fueled by fears and unease
- fear of uncertainty
- lack of recognition
- mental failing teams
- lack of skills training (know-how and interpersonal skills)
- lack of freedom
- lack of creativity
- faulty communication, interpretations, denial ...
- the values are those of the group, so a vision not necessarily a decided reality
- labor addiction as an internal virus
- changes undergone
- no moments of complicity in team with the manager
- overall trust deficit altered by media and negative internal messages
- the pessimistic view of the half-empty glass,
- too many internal processes
- fatality
- lack of non-strategic communication
- a short-term vision
What do we see in an optimistic team ?
- Team on the move
- Decisions
- Benevolence
- Intuition and creativity
- solidarity
- Recognition
- Motivation
- Recognized and appreciated management
- Good mood
- Trust and good communication!
Develop the optimism of your team
Optimism within the team, dare to decide it and put in place a strategy, even if you never pronounce the word happiness, yet optimism is the engine of surpassing, fulfillment and well-being ... It will be palpable and will impact your results, you will then have to explain your success internally!
How to do ?
- Integrate it as a value and develop it. Train him regularly, at management and team level: workshops, conferences and training, to develop confidence, cohesion, positive communication and business skills.
- Transpose problems into solutions (support in facilitation)
- Develop your leadership and enthusiasm, get support
- Prefer regular actions to “firefighter” actions
- Develop spontaneity and let go to get out of "control"
- Daring the strategy of optimism,
- Overshooting and tolerance for error
- Communicate, assert yourself and develop the spirit of initiative
- Congratulate and reward your teams
- Find pleasure and cooperation
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