Amid hardship, leaders can be tempted to withdraw into cynicism. It’s one thing to face challenges we knew were coming, to have seen the rough waves and sailed into them conscious of the threats. But what about when the storm comes in entirely unexpected or is far more severe than we anticipated? Suddenly we can lose confidence in ourselves or be consumed with fear that others have lost confidence in us.
At the end of 2020, hope may seem to be in short supply. For many organizations, the past year has been marked by an abundance of challenges and difficulties. A global pandemic, economic strain, massive disruptions to business models, and the increased polarization within American society seem to have eroded any hollow triumphalism. Leaders in businesses, non-profit organizations, and virtually every corner of public life have felt the strain of the past year.
And so it might be tempting, with only days remaining before the beginning of a new year, to be rather hopeless. Some will give themselves over to the slough of despair, to be sure. The cynic we will always have among us, I suppose.
But effective leaders are invariably characterized by hope. And Christian leaders, in particular, are to be those with the surest and steadiest hope. Unfortunately, it far too often seems to be the opposite.
The Difference Between Optimism and Hope
Jim Collins has drawn attention to what he calls “The Stockdale Paradox.” The Navy admiral and former POW recounted to Collins how he assessed those who were best equipped to endure the unimaginable horrors of those Vietnamese prison camps. In Stockdale’s memory, the optimists were the first to succumb. Given to rosy scenarios detached from reality, they expected to be liberated by Christmas, then Easter. And when those expectations were shown to be utterly unrealistic, “they died of a broken heart.”
As Stockdale put it, “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
This is what has come to be known as the Stockdale Paradox. Effective leaders have that absolute confidence that victory will ultimately come, but they can see and navigate the very real challenges before them.
There is no virtue in ignoring reality or sticking your head in the sand. Beware of leaders who simply tune their message based on what they think followers want to hear, or what will curry the broadest possible support. There’s wisdom in seeking a consensus, but not when it’s dishonest or delusional.
Leaders marked by hope can be honest with their organization that things might get worse before they get better. But the confidence they have in the mission, and in the quality of the team, bolsters their hope in a contagious way.
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