Mar 28, 2020
Be An Optimistic Leader
People around the globe are currently looking for leadership and guidance to navigate their way through the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. As a leader you must remain optimistic. In his book The Ride of a Lifetime, Bob Iger remind us that: “optimism in a leader, especially in challenging times, is so vital. This isn’t about saying things are good when they’re not, and it’s not about conveying some innate faith that ‘things will work out.’ It’s about believing you and the people around you can steer toward the best outcome, and not communicating the feelings that all is lost if things don’t break your way.”
There are three things you can do to cultivate your optimism and lead effectively in challenging times:
1. Look after yourself and look after your people
It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and depleted by the stress and anxiety caused by the incredible events unfolding before us: the stark rise in the death toll, the millions of people losing their jobs and the many more who have to choose between going out to feed their families or staying home to protect them from an invisible killer.
As a leader you have a duty of care for your people and you must support them in the best possible way. But for that you must first look after yourself. Think about the safety instructions you hear every time you board a plane: “In the event of a decompression, an oxygen mask will automatically appear in front of you. (…) If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person.”
Look after yourself. Take care of your physical and mental well-being. And look after people around you.
2. Learn from reliable sources and make decisions in line with your values
SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus. Which means there is a lot that we don’t know about it. Yet many so called experts will offer advises that for the most part are not verified. This leads to confusion in governments responses and great uncertainty for individuals and corporations alike.
Yet as a leader you must make swift decisions for your organization. One principle shared by Ray Dalio in his book Principles can help with that: “By questioning experts individually and encouraging them to have thoughtful disagreement with each other that I can listen to and ask questions about, I both raise my probability of being right and become much better educated. This is most true when the experts disagree with me or with each other. Smart people who can thoughtfully disagree are the greatest teachers, far better than a professor assigned to stand in front of a board and lecture at you. The knowledge I acquire usually leads to principles that I develop and refine for similar cases that arise in the future. In some cases in which the subjects are just too complex for me to understand in the time required, I will turn over the decision making to knowledgeable others who are more believable than me, but I still want to listen in on their thoughtful disagreement. I find that most people don’t do that — they prefer to make their own decisions, even when they’re not qualified to make the kinds of judgments required. In doing so, they’re giving in to their lower-level selves” .
3. Focus on adding value to your customers, to your community and to all other stakeholders
When schools closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, companies like Zoom, Khan Academy, Ed Place, did not hesitate to open their platform and offer free contents to support students continuing their education from home. Dyson, the U.K.-based vacuum company, refocused resources to design and build in just 10 days an entirely new ventilator for COVID-19 patients as hospitals around the world reach patient capacity and suffer from a dangerous lack of sufficient medical equipment.
What can your organisation do to support and add more value to your customers and to your community in this critical time? Be truly generous in your actions with service in mind and people at heart.
Eventually this crisis will come under control. Nobody really knows when. What we know is that the lessons we learn now will help us prepare for the next crisis. Believe in you. Believe in the people around you. Be an optimistic leader.
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