As leaders we may all too familiar with the call for ‘more’. Often accompanied by ‘faster’. The relentlessness of today’s working environment may not always leave time to appreciate what is being achieved already and to count our blessings. This may feel like an old-fashioned notion and yet being able to see the beauty, the positives in each moment of each day actually fuels higher levels of performance. It connects us with gratitude, hope and optimism which in turn create a positive spiral toward higher energy and potential.
Optimism in fact is one of the key qualities identified in having a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ). Why is that? Optimism has been shown to improve health, achievement, resilience and overall well-being which creates balance that enables us to be more objective and compassionate with ourselves and others. Author Tali Sharot also tells us that “optimism increases explorative behavior and innovation, which is why so many entrepreneurs are on the optimistic side.”
In this relentless, full-on culture we may justify the need just to keep on keeping on because otherwise if we stop we may find ourselves unable to perform. But what about taking that moment to be present with all the good things that are already happening – all the new ideas, the obstacles that have been overcome, the creative sparks within our team that have brought forward a new innovation or solution. Counting our blessings and fuelling our optimism may feel like it takes time out from being ‘on it’, it may feel a little ‘soft’ or unnecessary but one of the number one behaviours that comes out in any cultural or team development work is a request to ‘celebrate success’ more often.
We tap into something much deeper, more heartful, more sustaining when we develop our practise around blessings, gratitude and optimism. They bring a fuel that vitalises, literally brings life to all that we do.
So as we contemplate our leadership practices and how we inspire our team and organisation to new levels of performance let’s shift the balance to include more sustainable practices, mindsets and qualities.