Is Positive Leadership for Sissies?

At a recent corporate presentation for a large leadership team, I spoke about the strategy of positive leadership skills. Most of the group leaned into the idea, but one leader in the group was wholly unimpressed. After a noticeable and sustained display of resistant body language, I asked specifically for his thoughts on the topic. Here’s what he had to say:

“Well, being positive is all well and good, but positivity won’t get the hard work done around here. We have some very ambitious goals this year, and the clock is ticking. We cannot afford to be pumping people up and giving rah-rah speeches to make people feel good when we’re not meeting our goals. As leaders, we must have quick and hard conversations with our teams to get measurable results or we will be out of a job, or worse, out of business. As managers, we have to deal with reality, not a bunch of Pollyanna positivity. We cannot afford to ignore the truth and pretend everything is positive because it’s not always positive.”

I smiled at this. I admired how transparent and honest this leader was willing to be in front of a group of other leaders, many of whom likely shared similar thoughts and attitudes. I considered myself fortunate to have the opportunity to bust some of these deeply held myths about positive leadership with which a lot of professionals struggle. Maybe you do, too.  So, let’s break down his agreements.

First, positive leadership is not about giving motivational speeches that are disconnected from reality or about pumping people up with a bunch of platitudes and empty hope. It’s about real optimism, tenacity, and building strong relationships with the people on your team so they can face their challenges head-on with confidence. Great leaders speak from a platform of optimism which simply means they have a solid confidence in the team’s ability to overcome any challenge. People sense this confidence, and over time, they learn to operate from a similar foundation. This is what builds resilience and fluidity in the face of change.

Secondly, being positive is not the same as being soft, weak, or ridiculously annoying. Being positive and optimistic in the face of adversity is actually harder than being pessimistic and negative. It requires a leader to be mentally tough and emotionally regulated. If you are truly a positive leader, you won’t tolerate negativity, panic, blame, or immature emotional behavior in others, and this is what attracts the right people to your team. Positive, capable, creative, accountable professionals are attracted to positive, capable, creative, accountable leaders. A positive leader expects a lot from their people and has every belief that they can and will perform, or they will opt-out. It’s not an easier way to lead; it’s a smarter way to lead.

And this brings me to my third point: Facing up to reality.

Positive leadership is not about ignoring reality or running from the truth. It’s about the ability to maintain your optimism, non-judgement, belief, and kindness all while facing the hard truth to create a better outcome. Great leaders confront what’s not working, where the problems are, and who needs to step up, but they learn to do it in a way that never sacrifices the respect, dignity, or elevation of their team. They are actually quite demanding, just never demeaning. They set and hold high standards and then support, nurture, encourage, and hold them accountable to meet that standard.

Lastly, positive leaders know that their job is to be clear with their expectations and goals and simultaneously inspire those they lead to meet them. They are humble leaders who give their team all the credit. They know they are doing more than achieving goals and winning at the game of business. More importantly, they are growing the next level of leaders by their example and guidance.

Positive leadership is how you win at business long-term. It is what helps teams win the game and want to stay on to play another one. If your team is meeting their goals but hates the daily grind to do it, they won’t last long, and they won’t look forward to the next challenge or set of new initiatives. This week, choose to do more than intimidate folks to win. Choose to win with a team that enjoys the work, supports each other, respects your leadership, and loves the culture of optimism and positivity that you deliver and expect.

Positive leadership is a tough, challenging, eyes-wide-open way to lead. Choose it anyway.

“Positive leadership literally morphs the workplace from a place where people work at a job to one where they thrive.”

– Steve Gladis