Much of leadership is about wrestling with problems. Staff problems.
Customer problems.
Mission problems.
Resource problems.
Communication problems.
Problems. Problems. Problems.
We are either just leaving a problem, headed into a problem, or in the middle of problem.
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell shares a unique perspective on problems and leadership. He says:
The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
Though given from a military context the quote applies to leaders in all areas of life. If your team (family, staff, unit, etc) doesn’t bring problems to you they assume can’t help or won’t.
Wait, you do care?
Maybe the challenge is in how you respond when problems are brought to you.
Positivity is “the practice of being or tendency to be positive or optimistic in attitude”.
If positive thinking can have such great effects on your mental and physical health what impact could positive thinking have on you and your team? Jon Gordon challenges leaders to create a positive culture (chap 3), create positive connections (chap 7), and to set the example for continuous improvement (chap 8). Throughout the book he notes the tremendous impact that positive thinking has had on MLB teams, NCAA football teams, major corporations, and on his roles as husband and father.
As leaders we can’t avoid difficult conversations, tough decisions, or internal and external criticism. What we can avoid is giving off the stench of negativity. The more the positive the leader the more positive the team. Gordon is not talking about a pie in the sky naïveté, instead he promotes maintaining a positive outlook no matter the circumstances.
Though we have a hard time nailing down exactly who said it most people agree that
Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it.
Think about how your life and leadership could change if our responses had healthy doses of positivity injected into them.
The Power of Positive Leadership is available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2qCdBPL
