Choosing to Lead Well

Viktor Frankl, in his classic book, Man's Search for Meaning, said, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

I've been reflecting on this, particularly from a leadership perspective.  The issue is that we need to project an attitude of hope and encouragement despite how we perceive our own feelings to be.  In order to help visualize this, I mapped out the following diagram:


A leader is most helpful when they project rational optimism. Interestingly, this is often reinforced by a deeper sense of purpose and a productive faith-based worldview.  Some may feel that faith is a delusion and this is irrational, but I am convinced from experience and research that a healthy faith life is constructive towards maintaining a positive outlook.  In this space, we can also find positive authenticity, a key to building trust, particularly in an age of growing leadership distrust and cynicism.

Sometimes leaders oversell their optimism, and as a result, authenticity begins to slip into irrationality and dysfunction as things become "too good to be true". People quickly become suspicious and skeptical, particularly if they have been burned by previous scenarios that used this approach.

Leadership also falters when it slips into the pessimistic side of the graph.  Becoming fatalistic or "slogging through" problems and challenges, makes them grow bigger and builds the level of fear in the mind of the leader. In this mode, these fears and attitudes are reflected on to those that are critical for helping push an organization through such trying times.

If the fear grows into a level of despair, leadership is no longer helpful and can bring significant self-harm to an organization. This scenario requires intervention and likely leadership replacement.

Bottom line:  Despite occasional feelings of despair or fatality, it is important to find the strength and discipline to project a rational optimism to lead well through the successes and challenges of any organization. Combined with a vibrant faith life, there is every reason to evaluate our personal feelings and keep returning to the rational, optimistic attitude of an effective leader.

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