Optimism: Promoting Resilience and Positive Change

What is it?

Optimism is a mindset characterised by believing that the outcome of an endeavour will be favourable, even in the face of obstacles or adversity. Optimism is not about denying the existence of challenges or pretending that everything is always perfect. Instead, it’s about approaching life with a positive frame of mind, focusing on finding solutions rather than problems.

Why is it important?

Optimism plays a crucial role in promoting well-being, success, and fulfilment in various aspects of life. By developing a positive outlook, you can not only improve their own lives but also contribute to creating a more positive and resilient world around you.

Here are some of the reasons why I believe optimism is vital for successful leadership:

Increased Resilience: Instead of seeing setbacks as permanent failures, optimists perceive them as temporary setbacks that can be overcome with effort and perseverance. This perspective enables them to bounce back more quickly from adversity and remain resilient in the face of challenges.

Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills: Optimism encourages a solutions-oriented approach to problems. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by challenges, optimistic leaders tend to focus on finding constructive solutions and taking action to address difficulties.

Positive Influence: Optimism is contagious and can inspire others to adopt a similar mindset. Optimistic leaders can motivate and empower those around them, creating a culture of positivity and resilience within organisations.

How do you build, grow, learn and develop it? What gets in the way?

The good news is the glass is half full and optimism can be learned! Martin Seligman, one of the founders of the positive psychology movement, developed the concept of learned optimism, which proposes that individuals can learn to develop a more optimistic outlook on life through behavioural and cognitive strategies. The strategies are focused on consciously challenging negative self-talk, finding ways to unlearn habits that pessimism feeds on and replace them with positive self-talk.

Seligman’s approach uses the ABC technique, which stands for Adversity, Belief, Consequences. We first encounter an Adversity. How we think about the difficulty we have encountered creates a belief. Our beliefs then influence what we do next, so they become consequences. When facing adversity, the way in which you interpret it has a direct impact on your mindset – this is known as your explanatory style.

Here’s an example of how the ABC technique might play out for a person with a pessimistic outlook: An individual receives critical feedback from their manager during a performance review, highlighting areas for improvement and pointing out mistakes made on a recent project (adversity). The individual’s interpretation of the feedback event (belief) might be “I’m a failure, I’m not cut out for this job”. This belief then influences the behaviours, responses and feelings associated with the situation. Consequently, they may become withdrawn and avoid seeking out new challenges or opportunities for fear of making further mistakes.

Here’s how the example might play out for someone with an optimistic mindset: Their interpretation of the event (belief) is “That’s tough to hear but the feedback provides valuable insight into areas where I can grow and improve”. A behavioural response (consequence) might be they take action to address the areas for improvement, seeking out additional support or resources to enhance their performance.

In this second example, by having a positive interpretation of the critical feedback the individual has reframed the adversity as an opportunity for development. They are more optimistic of this being a temporary setback that can be overcome with effort and perseverance.

Choosing to be optimistic is an active process that requires intentional and consistent effort. If you want to develop a more positive explanatory style, next time you encounter a stressful situation write down what happened, what beliefs you had during and after the experience and what the consequence was. Once you’ve captured the ABC in several situations, go back through what you have written and see if you can identify any negative thinking patterns.

To end, here are some questions for reflection alongside your ABC’s, to help you keep looking for the silver lining: