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Optimism at the Heart of Business Success

Optimism comes from the Latin word optimus, meaning ‘best’, which describes how an optimistic person is always looking for the best in any situation and expecting good things to happen. It is the tendency to believe, expect, or hope that things will turn out well. Even if something bad happens, like the loss of a job, an optimist always sees the silver lining. Optimism isn’t restricted to individuals, but can also play out in the business world.
Bert Jacobs, founder of Life Is Good, explains how an approach to decision making that acknowledges both good and bad in most circumstances, yet chooses to focus on the good, is intelligent optimism which will make you a better leader and a happier person. If business leaders approach many of their issues, such as management, creativity, financial performance, and personal-professional balance, with intelligent optimism, they will find them easier to deal with.

Every night when we get home and switch on the news, we are always hearing and seeing the bad things that have happened during the day. Bert Jacobs and his brother were fed up with media stories of what went wrong during the day, and felt this made people pessimistic and reinforced the common misconception that something bad was going to happen every day. They wondered if people would be open to celebrating some of the good things in life, and so set out their journey to establish the brand that celebrates what went right during the day. Early retailers sold the brothers’ products, and every time someone told them what makes them happy, their company grew. The boys learned early that their customers were co-authoring the story of their brand.

Twenty years on, and the brothers have turned Life is Good into a $100 million lifestyle brand dedicated to spreading the power of optimism and helping kids in need. The successful business has not been without its troughs, but the boys’ approach those tough times head on instead of dwelling on them, which is core to the aspect of intelligent optimism. The business has taken Bert to new heights, and he is now writing about his company’s experience, and sharing with business leaders his specific insights about the power of optimism in building a business.

Bert’s philosophy on how disposition influences leadership, is of the view that pessimistic leaders focus on obstacles and make lists of reasons why ideas won’t work. They drive cultures that fear failure, causing close-mindedness, which shuts down creativity and eventually kills business. Optimistic leaders on the other hand, focus on opportunities, and enable open-mindedness, allowing for creativity, and problem-solving. Jacobs puts forth that optimists invent genuine points of difference in the market, and it is these points of difference that build healthy businesses.

To access the full article, please click the following link: http://www.inc.com/bert-jacobs/why-optimist-leaders-build-the-healthiest-companies.html