Are You an Optimistic Leader?
? Lauren Schieffer, CSP
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“Be an optimist—always. Perpetual optimism is a force more powerful than doubt and negativity every time.” - The Colonel
This year marked the 50th anniversary of one of the most powerfully optimistic moments in American history – the Apollo 13 mission. In my opinion, more than any other – that mission embodied the power of the human spirit.
I remember so clearly April of 1970 when Apollo 13 took off from Kennedy Space Center carrying James Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. About two days into the flight, the American public became aware that there was a problem on board. Three American astronauts in the void of space, and there was a serious problem on board. An oxygen tank had exploded and blown out a large chunk of the command module.
As a family we watched, we waited, and we followed Walter Cronkite’s updates. So many things could go wrong. The crew could run out of oxygen before they reentered the atmosphere. They could run out of water. There could be a toxic build-up of carbon dioxide. There might not be enough power to run the guidance system to get them back to Earth. If they missed their target by a hair’s breadth, they would bounce off the Earth’s atmosphere and go hurtling into space. The command module might not power up again after being dormant in the frozen void for so many hours. After the explosion and the subsequent cold, the heat shield on the command module could be compromised, which would cause the crew to be overcome upon the reentry. There were so many potential catastrophes that it seemed an impossible task to bring them home alive. And yet, for 72 hours, my family stood guard by the television set, believing – WILLING them to come home safely.
When the sound of Commander Lovell’s voice crackled over the airwaves, “Hello Houston. This is Odyssey. It’s good to see you again,” my father cried. Unabashedly, with tears freely flowing down his cheeks, he said, “You see, I knew we would bring them back. All it takes is optimism, ingenuity, and will power.” (I think this was also the moment that solidified Dad’s belief that duct tape can fix anything.)
Is it possible that Dad’s optimism, belief, and positive vibes actually helped bring them home safely? Probably not. But the positivity of the NASA engineers looking for solutions they’d never thought of, combined with millions of optimistic and hopeful people across the globe, might have made a cosmic difference. Even in the worst of possible scenarios, optimism will cause you to look for solutions and find options that pessimism will overlook in defeat.
Are you optimistic today? Do you BELIEVE things will get better? What if you did? Optimism is a force more powerful than doubt and negativity every time.