It’s winter and its dark, cold and raining. The recession is getting worse. We are heading for mass unemployment, global climate disaster, nuclear terrorism and my coffee machine has broken down. So, overall, things are pretty good.
As a leader, if I go into the office with a little cloud of gloom, it rapidly spreads into a major depression across the office. If I go in feeling good and looking good, everything seems to be better. After months of trying, I even managed to get a smile from our security guard who is professionally gloomy. (It was a terrifying sight, an unnatural contortion of his face which exposed yellow, broken teeth. I smiled back and hurried on.)
Being British it is dangerous to be cheerful. Enthusiasm is a certifiable mental disorder in many organisations. It may be something to do with loss of Empire. We cannot even win in all the sports we invented — football, rugby and cricket. At least we still hold our own at cheese rolling and Morris dancing.
The tougher times are, the more important it is to find reasons to positive, enthusiastic and energetic. If we are not enthusiastic, we can not expect anyone else to be enthusiastic for us. Having spent seven years hanging out with tribes that lack water, electricity, sanitation, education, health care, takeaway pizzas, iPods and 42” plasma TVs, it is astonishing to find that they are relentlessly cheerful.
I asked Choimaa, an old lady in a wretched tent in the middle of Mongolia if there was anything she wanted. She looked astonished at the thought. “Why would I want anything? I have everything I need: health, family and friends.” When surveying the wreck of the economy and our careers, it is easy to lose sight of what is important.
Compared to tribal living, the hell of our recession is like heaven. I wake up in the morning, go to the bathroom and turn on a tap. Cold water comes out. It is clean and drinkable, and I do not have to go five miles through the bush to collect it. It is a miracle. I turn on another tap and the water is hot. I do not have to collect firewood to heat it. It is another miracle.
When you start the day with two miracles in two minutes you know the day is going to be great. Because I used to ignore such everyday miracles, I used to wake up miserable. I would be worrying about work, trains, the gloomy news. I know which way I prefer to start the day.
Everyone has their own ways of being cheerful or miserable. That is the whole point. We choose how we want to feel. If we want to be miserable, we will find reasons to be miserable. If we want to be cheerful, we will find excuses to be cheerful. Our feelings are our choices and our responsibility. As leaders, we help ourselves and help all our followers if we make the right decision.
(Photo: RogueSun Media, CC2.0)
