Cognitive Psychologist Steven Pinker has researched why people around the world seem to be increasingly pessimistic, despite the fact that we are living in a relative period of abundance and security. “I found that people consistently estimate that the present is more lethal than the past,” he writes in his Cato Institute article, ‘The Psychology of Pessimism.’ “Modernity has brought us terrible violence, the thinking goes, while the native peoples of the past lived in a state of harmony, one we have departed from to our peril. But the actual data shows that our ancestors were far more violent than we are and that violence has been in decline for long stretches of time. In some comparisons, the past was forty times more violent that the present.” So why all the pessimism? People have always longed for “the good old days,” but in reality, Pinker says, “we are probably living in the most peaceful time in our species existence.”

The same can be true at work. We can often be faced with teams who look back and fondly recall times which they believed to be better than those they are currently living through. Whether from a resource, organisational culture, leadership, financial or any other perspective, there is a tendency to erase the frustrations of the past and only see the good times. Similarly, teams can view their current situation with pessimism, despite having proven time and time again they are capable of delivering and performing well.

What we know about all if this is that teams take their lead from their leaders. If they see their leaders getting openly frustrated with a circumstance, they also adopt this viewpoint. That’s not to say that leaders should gloss over challenges. But we have to pay attention to our words and actions and scrutinise them. Each of the four components of Psychological Capital (i.e., hope; efficacy – the ability to produce a desired result; resilience and optimism) represents the positive psychological resources that lead to desirable outcomes for organisations.

Encouraging Action

• Look back over your emails and communications over the last month. How positive have they been? How encouraging? Do they focus more on what’s not working, or more on what is?
• How much do you instil hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism in your teams? If you were to be shadowed by a brand new manager for a day, how would they see you do that?
• Where do you need to focus, to instil more confidence and encouragement in your people?

Be encouraged; lead well.