Leadership Skills & The Power of Negative Thinking
ByHi folks,
Did you see the September 24th NY Times article titled
“The Power of Negative Thinking” by Barbara Ehrenreich?
I suspect it is a great article for the Times, as it is
controversial and will probably draw lots of comments – like
this one – which is good for their business. Nice marketing
job, Barbara!
The writer slams “the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-
American, positive thinking” as a significant reason we are
in this economic mess in the U.S.
She paints a picture of the American family who says “we’ll
buy the expensive house now at the super low interest rate
and don’t worry, our optimism and hope will generate more
income by the time the rates rise.” Now that probably happened
in some cases, but I doubt seriously it is the typical case.
My experience in having delivered leadership skill development
workshops to managers, supervisors, team leaders and
executives from 67 countries over the last 21 years is that
Americans as a whole are NOT particularly optimistic.
Now, there is a certain behavioral style that makes up
approximately 26% of our society (based on research by TTI*) that has a naturally optimistic outlook on life. They are the
type that tend to see the silver lining in most any cloud.
While I don’t happen to be one of those – I have to WORK at
my optimism 
– I have a feeling that these natural optimists
probably enjoy life a bit more than the rest of us. That does
NOT make them necessarily more effective or productive,
however.
But what I want to discuss is the Power of Forward Focus(TM)
(this is OUR marketing ).
Only in the very last paragraph does Ms. Ehrenreich have a
“by the way” comment that extreme negative thinking is
probably just as bad as extreme optimism. Thank you!
But that wouldn’t sell newspapers, so the article doesn’t have
that slant.
In that same last paragraph, she suggests the potential value
of realism “- seeing the risks, having the courage to bear bad
news and being prepared for famine as well as plenty.”
I believe that last little bit about realism fits what we teach in
our leadership development seminars, workshops and webinars;
that which we call Forward Focus.
There is a huge difference between the “positive thinking” that
Barbara slams in her article and Forward Focus. Positive
thinking is generic optimism that has no bounds and it has no
objective or goal. Extreme positive thinking might be more
enjoyable, but potentially not so productive, especially if it
keeps us from taking appropriate ACTION. Sitting on the couch
hoping for a million dollars is not likely to generate it!
Forward Focus on the other hand is always related to a
specific objective or goal, and it is critical to stay focused on
that goal.
So, while we encourage people and teams and organizations
to first look to their successes, what is already working, the
purpose of this approach is to build energy and open people to
their natural creativity. Ultimately, this process is focused on getting
to the ACTION required to move closer to the goal. The creativity
and positive energy made available by the process is important
in determining innovative solutions to the challenges and having
the commitment to following through with actions required to
overcome the obstacles.
This, to me, is the real “realism.” You don’t ignore the obstacles
or pretend the challenges and problems don’t exist. It’s all about
HOW you deal with the challenges, and Forward Focus has
proven itself to be effective in 67 national cultures and thousands
of companies.
Barbara, thanks for the excuse to talk about the Power of
Forward Focus.
So, here’s to staying Forward Focused (as much as practical)!
Ed Oakley
co-author, “Enlightened Leadership” and “Leadership Made Simple.”