Leader Optimism: Protect & Maintain
Leader optimism is the catalyst for creating a strategic vision and inspiring your team to navigate challenges and achieve favorable outcomes.
Leader optimism sees how the aggregate positives outweigh the negatives. Don’t deny that there are negatives; just redirect when needed to focus on positive results and how to get there. Sometimes, this can look different than how your team might express optimism. One of the best examples of leadership, in this regard, is how Miranda Priestley from "The Devil Wears Prada" shows us how to lead from a place of optimism. While she's a challenging character, she provides several important lessons.
Gatekeeping As Leader Optimism
Miranda’s optimism centers around her focus on positive outcomes and her ability to navigate circumstances that end up positive. She is the standard in her field, and she gatekeeps to maintain that high standard. Her leadership style might be intense, but it drives excellence and accuracy. This is because she understands what's at stake when standards slip. As a leader, you have to understand that ecosystem. Gatekeeping develops employees’ sense of role clarity and pride. When your team is clear on their roles, and can do their work well, they feel a sense of pride in their work.She sets the tone and temperature of the office so that people know when to focus, and when to scramble. She also sets the tone for how her team presents themselves. She knows that their visual appearance matters because it’s part of their product.
Recognize that your standards of service, product, and appearance all go hand in hand. People are the representation of our business and need to show up as such. Consider how each member of the team plays a part in the system. Miranda's actions, though sometimes perceived as harsh, reveal that she knew how important her leadership was to everyone in the organization. When considering the "devil you know" versus the "devil you don't," sometimes maintaining consistency with a leader you know is better than dealing with a new leader whose actions are unpredictable.
Reciprocity’s Role in Optimism
Another important aspect of leadership optimism is building trust and reciprocity with your team. Leaders must choose when to hold people steady or even hold them back. This is because a good leader recognizes the dangers of a competitor, for example. Sometimes, there’s good reason for a leader to advise a team member to stay put. As leaders, it is important for you to build trust and reciprocity with your employees so that they can discern the difference between your true intentions and not misunderstand them.
Cultivating Optimism
Here are a few strategies for cultivating optimism in leadership:
Set clear expectations: Ensure your team understands their roles and how they contribute to the organization's goals.
Lead with a vision: Share your strategic vision and inspire your team to achieve favorable outcomes.
Develop trust: Build relationships with your team and create an environment of open communication.
Manage emotions: Recognize that envy and insecurity can arise and have plans in place for how to deal with these issues.
Provide Feedback: Ensure you give team members the support and encouragement that will move them forward.
Leadership optimism isn’t just putting on a happy face. It is leading strategically to achieve results. When done effectively, a leader creates a culture of excellence, trust, and purpose.
Learn more about Miranda’s unconventional optimism in The Devil Wears Prada Out of Scope episode on the Fast Forward Podcast here: https://youtu.be/voIyCTzpMX4?si=OVm2TccDQAc-lOIJ
