“Stay positive!” might seem like a trite thing to say these days. But it’s more important than ever in the business world.
If you’re leading a team, it’s your job to lead with optimism. Even if your company has endured layoffs, sick employees, and an uncertain financial future, there’s a way to stay positive.
This might mean making gestures at first. For instance, one struggling hospital, whose story I read in Harvard Business Review, bought a Monarch caterpillar for every department. When the butterflies hatched, they released them all together to symbolize positive change.
Gestures like this might seem trivial, but they stand out in employees’ minds. When your team is struggling, they look to you for reassurance. It’s your job to provide that optimism.
While 2020 has been a hard year for a lot of companies, the leaders I work with are still fully invested in supporting their teams. And that’s reassuring.