During all my decades of studying, personally applying, training, and coaching leadership, I’ve come to appreciate that hope and optimism is a core defining element.

Leaders make us hopeful. Whether leading ourselves, our families, our teams, organizations, or countries, when times are darkest true leadership shines brightest. Leaders don’t sugarcoat or avoid facing tough problems head-on (the moose-on-the-
table®). Strong leaders inspire their co-workers, teams, associates, friends or loved ones to be hopeful by focusing on what could be as a counterbalance to what is. Leaders know how powerful and self-fulfilling the Law of Attraction truly is. They set up positive magnetic fields that attract the behaviors, circumstances, and events that ultimately lead to success.

Business advisor and coach Harry Hudson and cultural anthropologist and management consultant Barbara Perry are authors of Putting Hope to Work. In an article entitled “The Leaders from Hope,” they report: “…work connected to the positive-psychology movement has made hope discussable in new ways. Hope has been shown to be the key ingredient of resilience in survivors of traumas ranging from prison camps to natural disasters. Many studies have shown that people who score higher on measures of hope also cope better with injuries, diseases, and physical pain; perform better in school; and prove more competitive in sports.”