***Learning Optimism

Can optimism really be learned? Some say yes, and it can make a huge difference in life. No matter how large and intimidating a leadership challenge might be, facing it with optimism is the thing you can do to manage, shape, and eventually triumph over it. The bottom line: Trash the pessimistic attitude.nnOne of Egypt's best-remembered pharaohs, King Tut, is pictured with headgear featuring a cobra as well as a vulture. The cobra was to attack negative thoughts before they entered his head; the vulture was to consume bad ideas. Clearly, the king was committed to preserving his optimistic attitude and considered it vital to his leadership ability.nnFormer New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in his book Leadership (Miramax, 2002), notes his admiration of Winston Churchill, who, during the dark times of WW II "always managed to inspire confidence and hope within his people . . . When the bombings subsided, he'd wander the streets, doing what he could to help, calming people with his presence and courage."nnThe lesson modern-day leaders like Rudolf Giuliani have taken from Churchill's example is that, according to Giuliani, "sometimes the optimism of a leader is grounded in something only he knows--the situation isn't as dire as people think for reasons that will eventually become clear. But sometimes the leader has to be optimistic simply because if he isn't, nobody else will be. And you've got at least to try to fight back, no matter how daunting the odds."nnOn the flipside, everyone knows people in the workplace who manage to find sinister clouds on even the sunniest day. Many of these nay-sayers seem oblivious to their negativity, wondering why they don't seem to get ahead in life as quickly as others and why they are unhappy. Others simply don't know how to make the shift to optimism without it feeling false or being disingenuous.nnPessimists can reverse their negative attitude and "learned helplessness," says psychologist Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (Free Press, 1998). Seligman believes that people learn to be optimists or pessimists in childhood and then carry one of these two basic attitudes throughout life. His research shows that pessimists can reorient their thinking by taking control of their minds and developing habits that help them think positively. You can change a pessimistic mindset if you:n

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• Switch from "life-negating" to "life-affirming" phrases.n
• Censor other negative voices.n
• Look to the future and forget past setbacks.n
• Make optimism a way of life.n

nLearning optimism is essentially about disciplining your mind and your emotions. It is inevitable that rash and negative judgments will pop into your head, but how you handle them determines whether you will overcome a pessimistic mindset. Pessimism is a habit. It takes time to break the habit, but it is time worth taking because the benefits of optimism are so obvious.