In business, as in life, we are continually confronted with adversity. With the recent recession, businesses have been hit hard with declining sales and uncertainty in the economy. In the face of such difficulty, what can you do to cope, to work through the adversity?
One attribute that has been identified as a key factor in confronting adversity is the quality of optimism. Research has shown that even though optimism is often something innate, it can be learned.
In order to create optimism, research says you need to first stop having negative thoughts. When these doom and gloom emotions start to come over you, you need to mentally push them away. It may be hard to do, but it is necessary to create a more optimistic mood.
To create optimism, you also need to look at situations differently. When you fail, you have to look at the positive side – what you can learn from it, how it may have created new opportunities. You need to take to heart the aphorism that when one door closes, another opens. You also need to look at obstacles as challenges, things to be confronted and overcome.
When something bad happens, research shows you need to be proactive, rather than reactive, to maintain optimism. You need to have a sense of control, a feeling that your actions can make a difference, so you need to actively look for solutions and problem solve.
To maintain optimism, you need to learn from your failures. To learn from their failures, many business executives thought about the situation in which they failed, and then tried to figure out what they did wrong so that they could avoid a similar situation in the future.
Also, to maintain optimism in a company, company leadership has to set an example by displaying a sense of optimism and hope to their workers. Employees respond more optimistically when they see their leaders being optimistic and confident. The people at the top set the tone for the entire enterprise.
But research also shows that optimism also needs to be tempered by realism; it cannot be optimism blind to reality. Having optimism means having confidence in your abilities, not simply believing that everything will always come out well in the end. A realistic optimism also takes note of risks that are involved, and does not ignore those risks. You need to face reality with a view that is positive and confident, but you also need to recognize that reality is filled with pitfalls and threats that need to be taken into account as well.
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