A recent article on Nationalpost by Ray Williams titled the Leaders Edge in Tough Times refered to ‘rapid turbulent changes’ creating the “perfect storm” for leaders in the 21st Century.

He cites that leaders must have a strong personal connection in their visions and an unshakeable belief that stratgies can be implemented and that the vision survives and endures.

The best leaders have certain qualities in common during tough times:

- ability to see beyound current reality
- inegration of empathy for others and energy that aligns other to their cause
- ability to view all events with optimism and a positive frame of mind.

I would add a fourth quality:

- Never stop communicating.

Great leaders are often energised by challenges.

Pessimists are more likely to view an event they see negatively as the begining to a spiral of more negative events and become more close minded. Optimists see the same situation as only temporary and the future full of possibilities.

Optimists build resiliency, which is a character of great leaders. Optimistic leaders cope better with setbacks much better than pessimistic leaders.

Optimistic leaders energise their people with dreams of a better future (President Obama’s “Yes we can”, Dr Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”).

However, Williams goes onto suggest that leaders can improve their optimism and positivity, which I’ve built upon to create a ‘lucky’ 13:

1. Develop and Optimistic interpretation of the current reality
2. Reframe the current situation
3. Connect your view of the future to your core beliefs
4. Look at the bigger picture, not just the accumulation of small snapshots
5. Foster emotional resilience in others
6. Contain the negative impact as temporary
7. Control what’s in your power and don’t worry about what’s not
8. Engage others – as often as possible (don’t hide behind closed doors)
9. Ensure the atmosphere around you is positive
10. Embrace change – change happens get used to it!
11. Visualise success
12. Don’t give up.
13. Time to evaluate whether you have the right people on The Bus

‘optimistic and positive leaders are needed, and the rest of us have a duty, not just to support them, but insist on that kind of leadership’. Ray Williams

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