Our Four-Letter Survival Skill: Hope

I can already see the eyebrows raising and the snickers swelling. Can’t blame you. The hatred that is tearing our nation apart, the wholesale firing of employees from government jobs to technology giants, the rising costs of food and gas, the relentless pace of negative headlines—it’s enough to make me want to dive under the covers and stay there until… who knows when!??

But my colleague, Joe Tye, an amazing speaker and author, knocked me upside the head—proverbially speaking—with this recent post that made a solid case for why HOPE is indeed a strategy to make it through these times.?

He shared Gallup’s recent?Global Leadership Report: What Followers Want. The conclusion: ?the #1 thing people want from their leaders is hope. They say:?

“Hope is a powerful motivator; it gives followers something better to look forward to, enabling them to navigate challenges and work toward a brighter future. Without hope, people can disengage, lose confidence and become less resilient.”?

With Joe’s permission, I am sharing his post that came from this book, The Heart of a Nurse by Joe and his co-author Bob Dent. They believe leaders spark hope by guiding people to define the future by hopes and not fears, by dreams and not memories.??

Consider these six steps:?

Show up:?When a commander shows up at the front lines it’s not to do actual fighting, it’s to inspire hope in the troops.?

Listen:?Pay attention to what people are telling you, non-judgmentally and non-defensively. Take notes.?

Acknowledge:?The challenges people face are real and often daunting, don’t try to minimize them.?

Reassure:?Share what is being done to deal with those challenges and why you expect those actions to be successful. Be honest when the answer is we don’t know but we’ll figure it out together.??

Reify:?Create a vision of a future that is worth striving for. When MLK said he had a dream, he shared that dream in terms that any parent could embrace, a world where all children are treated with dignity.?

Symbolize:?One picture of Rosie the Riveter is worth a thousand-word essay on mental toughness. What symbol can represent your vision?

Ritualize:?Daily rituals, including staff huddles, are a powerful way of reminding people of the vision and why it is worth fighting for. People laughed when Sam Walton started workdays with the Walmart Cheer; instead of laughing they should have been buying stock.?

Celebrate:?Watch for small wins (create them if you must) and make time for celebrating. We learned during covid that DAISY Awards and similar celebrations are most important when times are dark.

Thanks, Joe (and Bob) for your gracious capacity to help all of us move through these times.

PS:? You can reach Joe at (319) 624-3889 in Iowa and follow him on LinkedIn.

?2025, Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE

Eileen McDargh is the CEO of The Resiliency Group. She is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, master facilitator, and award-winning author with expertise in resiliency and leadership. The British research firm of Global Gurus International ranks her in the top five of the 30 Communication masters worldwide. Her articles have appeared in countless publications and two of her books have been awarded national recognition, including the Ben Franklin Gold Award. A signed edition of her book Your Resiliency GPS: A Guide for Growing Through Life and Work is available at https://www.eileenmcdargh.com/the-resiliency-store/your-resiliency-gps.