9 August 2007

It Pays to Be Optimistic

Exploring the connections between optimism and business success

by Jennifer Robison
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After an exhaustive study, two researchers came to this conclusion: Optimism is essential to being an effective leader. Without it, they discovered, "there is no hope, no reason to stretch, and no belief that an organization can rally to achieve its vision." Find out more about their compelling and actionable research.
Jennifer Robison is a writer based in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Reader Comments
Charles Fleeman on 9/17/2007 10:23:40 AM

It's been my long experience in the workplace that managers are optimistic about the views of their superiors and pessimistic about the views of their underlings. There's a "survival" element to that situation. I've seen cautious people regarded highly in business management, but never a pessimist. Too much optimism at the executive level can lead to delusion, and delusion often leads to failure. Optimism needs a touch of realism. My work in organizational communication incorporates the "unconditional positive regard" idea of Carl Rogers, which is a kind of optimism that I describe as automatic respect for others.

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