‘That too can be put to the test. When the expectancy of success suddenly falls or gradually fades – usually because of unpredictable forces coming into play – then it is important for the leader not to succumb to the temptation of despair. For if he or she does, it will spread like a forest fire throughout the organization.’
‘What’s the difference between expectancy and hope?’
‘Expectancy implies a high degree of certainty about the positive outcome. Hope, by contrast, suggests little certainty but conveys a confidence or assurance in the possibility or an assurance that what one desires will happen. The important point is that while hope is still alive you are in with a chance. As Alexander Dubcek, leader of the Czech uprising against the Russians, said: Hope dies last; the person who loses hope also loses the sense of his future.’
‘So when things are going badly, professionally or personally, are you saying that it is important to maintain a climate of hope; it optimizes your (dwindling) chances of success?’
‘Precisely. If these are the circumstances, then I would agree with J W Gardner that a prime function of a leader is to keep hope alive. It can be tough, but, as you rightly say, realistic hope does optimize what is left of your chance of winning. One of the advantages of experience is that you discover that even the darkest situations will sometimes change for the better. So leaders can sometimes steady those who confuse a failure or setback in life with total defeat. Charles M Schultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, expressed it well:
There is one thing that I learned a long time ago… If you can hang on for a while longer, there is always something bright around the corner, or the dark clouds will go away and there will be some sunshine again if you are able to hold out. I think you just have to wait it out.
‘It can be a long wait, however, and then the primal function of a leader is to keep hope alive. Once people fall into the clutches of Giant Despair, then morale has a habit of collapsing.’
‘It must be very difficult to keep hope alive when one faces unbroken defeats or failures, when the dark clouds just get blacker and look more threatening.’
The Only Way To Lead Is To Show
People The Future.
A Leader Is A Dealer In HopeNapoleon Bonaparte
‘But we are not talking here about just positive thinking or mere optimism, are we?’ continued the young chief executive.
‘No, optimism isn’t quite the right word. For optimism is a tempera- mental inclination to look on the bright side and – unchecked by realism – it can be quite misleading. For example, a lifelong heavy smoker who happens to be an optimist, may be over-confident that he or she will avoid all the self-inflicted ills that come in the wake of his or her addiction.’
‘What happens when even the rational grounds for hope begin to disappear and the future starts to disappear down the plughole?’
‘It depends on the circumstances, but if a particular hope is extinguished, the more general hope may yet survive. It the cause is a great and noble one, for example, the hope remains that success will come in the long run, perhaps decades or even centuries hence.’
‘Why do leaders believe that?’ asked the young chief executive.
‘Well, all great and good causes are related; they sink or swim together. Eventually, good is destined to triumph, though perhaps not in the way we envisage it. Meanwhile we are like soldiers fully engaged:
For the cause that lacks assistance
For the wrong that needs resistance
For the future in the distance
And the good that I can do.’