I believe in being cautiously optimistic. Good expectations and positive visions of the future are part of our make up as leaders. We imagine the projects we oversee as successful long before anyone else does. For the most part, it’s a strength.
But as with any strength, this can also be a weakness.
It becomes a weakness when we get ahead of ourselves and act as if it has already happened. We take things for granted. We assume too much and it comes back to bite us.
It is good to have tentative plans so that when the good thing we are expecting happens, we are prepared for it.
The other side is waiting until the good thing we are expecting has actually happened before we make any specific concrete plans about it.
In college, I was told by a friend that he would send $100 per month to help with expenses. If I went to graduate school, it would be $150 per month. I planned my budget accordingly. In the 7 years of school, guess how much I got? $100 total. I got a dead chicken.
The chicken we thought was in the egg may be dead.
A healthy dose of skepticism can go a long way. Experience is a painful teacher at this point. We’ve had too many things fall through at the last minute.
We can strike a balance by being cautiously optimistic. Don’t spend your Christmas bonus before you have it in hand.
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
What are you counting on this week that you may need to reconsider?
Igniting Hope 4 Leaders 