Today's Leadership Insight - Be an Optimist

August 21, 2009

Today's Leadership Insight is Part 2 of Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Six Key Leadership Principles.

Part 2 of 6: Leaders Must Be Optimists

Being an optimist is not only a necessary trait of an effective leader, it's a necessary trait of someone who enjoys living their life.

Think about how you feel when a person who does nothing but preach doom-and-gloom walks into the room. "The sun's out, but that will only last 2 minutes and then it will rain again." "I'm not even going to go because I know I won't have fun." "I'd watch the game, but I know my team is going to lose."

And so on, and so on. Honestly, how can it be fun to go through life expecting the worst of every situation?

People who live their lives with the glass half empty miss out on so much.

Instead of complaining that it's going to rain in two minutes, isn't it more enjoyable to enjoy the sun while it's out?

Instead of assuming you won't have fun at a particular event, wouldn't it be better to go to the event with a positive attitude and give yourself the chance to have a good time?

Instead of cheating yourself out of a great game, isn't it better to watch the story unfold on the field? You never know when you might be watching the greatest game in history.

In leadership, being an optimist allows you to see things a certain way. The greatest events in the history of civilization would never have happened if it weren't for the vision of our leaders. They saw things a certain way. Therefore, they were able to make it that way.

If you spend your time dwelling on the negative aspects of any situation, you rob yourself of all the positives. If Rudy Giuliani would've shined the spotlight on the terrorists during 9/11, the city of New York, and the United States as a whole, would've never rallied around him the way they did. He took the most negative of situations and put emphasis on the strength of the city, its people, and the United States and established hope in the face of terror.

Leaders are always thinking of a solution to a problem. They don't think about the problem relentlessly until it wears them down...they think of ways to overcome the problem.

Today, look at your leadership development from the perspective of a glass half-full. Stop dwelling on the negatives and put all your emphasis on the positives. Evaluate your problems and struggles for what they are, then determine what it's going to take to overcome them.

As time goes on, you'll start to see everything in a brand new light. And, without question, you'll start to enjoy your life a lot more.