Hope is Not a Good (Leadership) Strategy

In the letter to Red in The Shawshank Redemption, Andy writes, "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." So, is hope something that is needed to be a good leader or manager? Yes and no. Hope gives us inspiration, but being inspired isn't enough to be effective. In order to truly be an effective leader or manager, you must also have the motivation to move forward. Now, we can't actually see motivation in others and others can't see motivation in us. Motivation is manifested through our behavior and we know that someone is motivated when we see that they are energized, engaged, excited, and enthusiastic. The most effective way to measure our motivation is through our own sustained effort and there is a big difference between temporary and sustained effort. So, even though hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, we will not effectively move forward until or unless we put forth sustained effort to achieve our goals and objectives. As Mahatma Ghandi once said, "Be the change that you want to see in the world." That means actively engaging with the world to bring about positive changes within ourselves and others. As Michelle Obama stated last week at the Democratic National Convention, it's important that we "do something" and not just hope that something happens without our involvement.