Last week in my Powerquotes Plus email, I shared a snippet from James Clavell’s novel Shogun.
“To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts,however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline – training – is about.”
This is a powerful thought and one that is incredibly important for us as leaders.
Does this mean that great leaders must be eternal optimists or move through life with a Polly Anna outlook?
Not necessarily.
But it doesn’t change the fact that enthusiasm, passion and a positive approach are all contagious. Unfortunately, the opposites of these things are also contagious.
The challenge for us as leaders extends beyond our thinking. Clavell is right – thinking (and I’ll add communicating) positively takes effort. When we don’t make this effort, we will get a downward spiral of thinking, beliefs and action.
So while creating a positive, enthusiastic environment might not be near the top of the list of skills for your leadership development program or supervisor training program, perhaps it should be.
Consciously creating a positive, proactive and can-do environment and energy is one of our most under-respected and most-important leadership communication imperatives.
Consider these leadership activities for today:
Think good of yourself today.
Think good about your team.
Think positively about your future success.
And take action on those thoughts.
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