OPTIMISM REDUX
Since I’m afraid of knives and was unable to find a rehab focused on this particular malady, I decided on a little self-help. I’m an amateur therapist so I kept it simple. The obvious cure for pessimism must be optimism. The opposite of negative is positive. I set out to find examples that would prove my hypothesis. Some facts came to light quickly:
• Pessimism seeks to motivate (if at all) through the use of fear.
• Optimism seeks to motivate (always) through the use of encouragement and vision.
• Pessimism will tell us everything that is wrong and will hurt us.
• Optimism will tell us everything that is right and can be used to help us.
• Pessimism is easy because it simply states the challenging situation at hand.
• Optimism is difficult because it requires creativity, courage and faith.
Public Optimism
This involves the leaders in government, business and social service.
Government Leadership
The government leaders we hold in the highest esteem are those who show faith in our ability to overcome challenges and are bold enough to expect the impossible. President John F. Kennedy did this at the dawn of the space age. The Soviet Union had beaten us into space and we were scrambling to catch up. In our frenzy to meet the perceived threat, we had several dramatic failures. Rockets blew up on the launching pad and lives were lost in the struggle. How did President Kennedy respond? He challenged us as a country to reach beyond our wildest imagination.
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
How are we going to pay for it? Doesn’t matter, we’re going. What technology will we need to get us there? Who knows, we’re going. President Kennedy was killed two years later and we still believed we were going. We landed on the moon before the decade ended. The impossible became possible due to one man’s optimistic vision.
Business Leadership
Failing banks, home foreclosures and vanquished industries abound in the current economic crisis. The air is rife with potential calamities. The good news is that we’ve been in this dark forest before. The bad news is we don’t remember how we got out the last time. The answer you ask? Optimistic vision and a belief in the strength of commitment brought us through and beyond.
Let’s look at a U.S. industry in peril today. That industry is automobile manufacturing. The early 1970’s brought an energy crisis that demanded much more fuel efficient cars. The American automobile industry was slow to respond to this threat and the Japanese were quick to seize the opportunity. Chrysler was especially hard hit and stood on the precipice of failure. They needed to change and quickly, but lacked the money or direction to facilitate this change. Enter Lee Iococca. First, Iococca challenged his employees to make positive things happen.
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”
He then set out to make positive attitudes a reality with his employees. He led from in front. He went to the government and got the money Chrysler needed to survive, while he worked to turn things around. He worked closely with the Chrysler design teams to develop a new fuel-efficient line of automobiles known as K cars. He also introduced a completely new class of vehicle to the marketplace. This new vehicle was the minivan. He became the star of Chrysler’s TV commercials, where he spread his infectious optimism to the American people. His program of optimism combined with action is now a famous American business success story. Chrysler came roaring back, returned to profitability and paid off its government loans seven years ahead of schedule.
Social Leadership
Infusing optimism (hope) into an entire population of people has the power to facilitate monumental social change. In 1950s and 1960s America, African Americans throughout the south still experienced harsh race discrimination. During this time a leader emerged who would bring this inequality to light. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would inspire blacks and whites alike to work toward ending racial discrimination. In the summer of 1964, Rev. King shared his dream for the future with the American people.
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
King’s bold and optimistic vision would eventually result in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One year later he would win the Nobel Peace Prize. All this from imagining what was possible instead of believing it was impossible.
Private Optimism
This involves us becoming leaders in our own lives. Rather than waiting for someone to come along and give us hope and inspiration, we must bring optimism to our own personal situation.
Believe in the power of inspiration.
Believe in the power of hope.
Believe in the power of faith.
Believe in the impossible.
BELIEVE.
It will change your life and quite possible the lives of others you may not even know. Leaders are always asking us to believe in them, their goals and their programs for change. They should start by believing in us.
Till next time,
Gene
Zig Ziglar says that each one of us has a portion of all the traits needed to succeed. Good leaders help people recognize this and help them develop them. Bad leaders keep telling people that they can't instead of telling them that they can. We know which kind we have in Washington today.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, your son Erik showed me your blog. Optimism is hard to come by these days, such sad times.
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